•^%N 


BR  115  .17  M4  1919 
Merrill,  William  P.  1867- 

1954. 
Christian  internationalism 


CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

HEW  YORK  •    BOSTON  •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


CHRISTIAN 
INTERNATIONALISM 


BY  / 

WILLIAM  PIERSON  MERRILL 


iI3eto  gotb 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


1919 

AU  rights  reterved 


COPTEIGHT.  1918 

By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  December,  19x8. 


TO 

MR.  AND  MRS.  ANDREW  CARNEGIE 

PIONEERS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  TRUE  INTERNATIONALISM, 

AND  LOYAL  TO  IT  THROUGH  ALL  CHANGING 

WORLD-CONDITIONS. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     The  Function  of  Christianity  in  the 

World i 

II     The  Old  Testament  and  Internation- 
alism       17 

III  The  New  Testament  and  Internation- 

alism       34 

IV  Christianity  and  Internationalism      .     51 
V    Democracy  and  Internationalism    .      .     68 

VI     America  and  Internationalism  .      .      .81 

VII     Constructive  Proposals  for  an  Inter- 
national Order 95 

Problems  Confronting  International- 
ism     113 

Christian    Principles   Underlying    In- 
ternationalism      131 

X    The  War  and  Internationalism     .      .144 

XI    The  Church  and  Internationalism     .   160 

XII     Conclusions i74 


CHRISTIAN   INTERNATIONALISM 
CHAPTER  I 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  WORLD 

Christian  Internationalism!  Is  there  such  a 
thing?  Can  there  be  such  a  thing?  Can  there 
be  Christian  nations,  living  together  like  Chris- 
tian gentlemen? 

If  not,  we  may  as  well  stop  talking  about 
*'  Christian  Civilization."  We  have  well  nigh 
stopped  talking  of  it,  those  of  us  who  are  sensitive 
to  the  real  values  and  high  meanings  that  lie 
locked  within  that  great  word  "  Christian." 

One  of  the  most  tragic  facts  about  the  war  is 
that  it  has  gone  on  in  Christendom.  There  is  a 
sarcasm  that  bites  and  stings  in  the  cartoon  which 
represents  a  party  of  Africans  looking  on  at  the 
scenes  of  fury  and  bloodshed  in  Europe,  and  ask- 
ing, "Why  do  the  Christians  rage?"  The  pic- 
ture in  the  second  Psalm  is  reversed.  It  is  the 
"  people  of  God "  who  are  raging,  and  the 
"  heathen  "  laugh  and  have  them  in  derision. 


2    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

How  can  such  things  be,  when  Christ  has  been 
in  the  world  these  two  thousand  years? 

We  cannot  lay  the  whole  blame  on  any  one 
man,  or  even  on  any  one  living  nation.  Germany 
planned  and  made  the  war.  History  will  pro- 
nounce that  verdict.  Had  It  still  been  In  doubt, 
Prince  LIchnowsky's  revelations  have  removed  the 
last  shred  of  possibility  of  doubt.  Harden's 
proud  "  We  willed  it  "  will  some  day  be  the  sad 
confession  of  shame  made  by  a  Germany  at  last 
seeing  herself  as  others  see  her,  and  as  she  Is. 

Yet  it  is  clear  that  the  blame  does  not  rest  on 
Germany  alone,  certainly  not  alone  on  the  Ger- 
many of  to-day.  We  can  trace  the  war  back  to 
remote  causes.  Perhaps  heavier  blame  rests  on 
the  Germany  of  1871,  and  the  Germany  of  1866, 
and  the  Germany  of  Frederick  the  Great.  So 
many  times  Germans  had  learned  the  lesson  that 
the  way  of  the  transgressor  may  be  very  profit- 
able! 

We  cannot  lay  the  blame  for  this  tragic  catas- 
trophe, in  any  degree,  upon  a  hidden,  mysterious 
fate.  Wise  words  of  warning  have  been  spoken 
lately: 

"Again  the  venerable  refrain  Is  heard:  'The 
fatality  of  war  Is  stronger  than  our  wills.'  The 
old  refrain  of  the  herd  that  makes  a  god  of  Its 
weakness,  and  bows  down  before  him.     Man  has 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY        3 

invented  fate,  that  he  may  make  it  responsible 
for  the  disorders  of  the  universe,  those  disorders 
which  it  was  his  duty  to  regulate.  There  is  no 
fatality!  The  only  fatality  is  what  we  desire, 
and,  more  often,  too,  what  we  do  not  desire 
enough.  Let  each  now  repeat  his  mea  culpa. 
The  leaders  of  thought,  the  church,  the  Labor 
Parties  did  not  desire  war.  That  may  be.  What 
then  did  they  do  to  prevent  it?  " 

No  matter  how  clearly  it  may  come  to  be  seen 
and  acknowledged  by  all  the  world,  Germany  in- 
cluded, that  the  war  came  because  Germany  would 
have  it,  Christendom  as  a  whole  must  bear  a 
heavy  burden  of  shame  and  guilt,  that  such  a 
hideous  thing  could  come  out  of  her  twenty  cen- 
turies of  knowing  Jesus  Christ.  Such  things  ought 
not  to  be;  they  would  not  be  If  Christianity  had 
laid  hold  firmly  on  the  relations  between  nations, 
and  controlled  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  states. 
If  such  things  are  not  to  be  In  the  future.  It  must 
be  by  a  Christian  control  of  International  life, 
that  is  by  an  outworking  of  Christian  Internation- 
alism. 

The  question  whether  there  can  be  Christian 
Internationalism  rests  back  on  the  question.  What 
Is  the  true  function  and  mission  of  Christianity  in 
the  world? 

A  helpful  discussion  of  this  fundamental  ques- 


4    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

tlon  is  found  in  Professor  Peabody's  "  The  Chris- 
tian Life  in  the  Modern  World."  Its  usefulness 
is  lessened  by  the  fact  that,  written  before  the 
war,  it  is  necessarily  somewhat  out  of  touch  with 
the  radically  changed  and  rapidly  changing  condi- 
tions of  our  time.  But  it  still  has  value,  for  it 
deals  with  basic  issues. 

All  through  the  ages  there  has  gone  on  a  con- 
flict between  two  conceptions  of  the  place  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  world.  We  may  call  them  the  in- 
digenous and  the  exotic  views;  the  one  holds  that 
Christianity  has  a  natural  place  and  function  in  the 
world;  the  other  that  it  is  here  under  protest,  in 
the  interests  of  another  world,  a  thing  apart  from 
the  normal  interests  of  social  life  and  develop- 
ment. 

A  certain  amount  of  truth  underlies  the  convic- 
tion that  the  Christian  is  to  be  something  more 
than  a  citizen  of  his  world  and  of  his  time,  that  he 
is  really  a  citizen  of  another  world,  or  another 
age.  But  the  vital  truth  is  not  that  he  is  a  citizen 
of  another  realm,  living  here  altogether  as  a  pil- 
grim and  a  foreigner.  The  truth  is  that  the  Chris- 
tian is  a  citizen  of  the  world  that  ought  to  be  and 
that  some  day  shall  be,  through  the  good  grace  of 
God.  He  lives  on  the  front  line,  and  is  supremely 
interested  in  what  lies  ahead. 

When    settlers    come    into    a    strange    country 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY       5 

where  customs  and  standards  are  different  from 
those  by  which  they  have  lived  in  the  home  land, 
lower  than  those  they  have  known,  three  courses 
are  open  to  them.  They  can  abandon  their  inher- 
ited standards  and  ideals,  and  lapse  into  the  lower 
life  about  them,  as  educated  Indians  have,  some- 
times, "  gone  back  to  the  blanket."  They  can 
stand  stiffly  by  their  cherished  customs  and  famil- 
iar standards,  like  the  Englishman  of  whom  Price 
Collier  tells,  who,  living  in  a  remote  village  of  In- 
dia, where  no  other  white  man  ever  came,  put  on 
evening  dress  for  dinner  every  night.  Or  they  can 
hold  steadfastly  to  their  great  principles  and 
ideals,  while  yet  adjusting  themselves  and  their 
conduct,  at  every  possible  point,  to  the  life  about 
them,  and  so  lift  up  that  life  to  their  own  high 
plane.  So  are  Christians  in  the  world.  Some  of 
them  are  frankly  and  wholly  worldly,  content  with 
things  as  they  are.  Some  are  otherworldly,  out 
of  touch  with  the  things  of  earth  through  holding 
their  thoughts  and  fixing  their  hopes  on  the  here- 
after. But  the  best  Christian,  the  real  and  whole- 
some Christian,  mingles  with  life  as  Jesus  did, 
above  it  In  holiness,  yet  a  part  of  it  in  wholesome- 
ness,  feeling  it  his  mission  and  the  mission  of  the 
Christ  he  serves  to  lift  the  world  to  a  better  and 
higher  life. 

As  Professor  Peabody  so  well  points  out,  there 


6    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

are  two  sets  of  extremists  who  hold  that  Christian- 
ity and  the  modern  world  are  irreconcilable. 

On  the  one  hand  we  find  those  who  glory  in  the 
modern  world,  in  its  thoughts  and  ideals,  Its  prog- 
ress and  splendor,  and  condemn  Christianity  as 
outworn,  hopelessly  out  of  touch  with  modernity, 
or  even  a  weakening  and  retarding  influence  which 
must  be  cast  away  if  man  is  to  make  the  progress 
he  might  and  should. 

The  High  Priest  of  this  party  which  clings  to 
the  modern  world  and  rejects  Christianity  is  Nietz- 
sche, with  his  scorn  for  Jesus,  his  hatred  of  Paul, 
his  glorification  of  ruthless  power,  his  beatitudes 
of  hatred  and  force,  his  ideal  of  the  superman. 
He  has  a  host  of  followers,  few  of  them  going  so 
far  as  their  leader  went,  but  many  of  them  holding 
the  insidious  and  dangerous  doctrine  frankly 
avowed  by  General  Bernhardi,  that  the  standards 
of  Christ  are  authoritative  for  the  individual  life, 
but  cannot  hold  for  the  conduct  of  great  groups  of 
men,  and  least  of  all  for  nations  In  their  conduct 
and  relations. 

At  the  other  extreme  we  find  ascetics,  rebels 
against  the  established  order,  men  wholly  out  of 
touch  with  the  world.  Tolstoi  Is  the  most  con- 
spicuous example  of  this  group.  Like  the  first 
group,  these  men  hold  that  Christianity  and  mod- 
ern life  are  incompatible;  but,  unlike  the  other 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY       7 

group,  they  abandon  not  Christianity,  but  modern 
life.  They  flee  from  it,  to  save  their  souls. 
They  "  leave  the  poor  old  stranded  wreck  "  of  a 
world,  and  "  pull  for  the  shore  "  of  some  little  is- 
land, where  they  can  live  as  spiritual  Robinson 
Crusoes.  Such  are  legitimate  successors  of  the 
great  monks  and  mystics  who,  in  earlier  times, 
sang  "  de  contemptu  mundi." 

To  this  group  belong  those  extreme  pre-millena- 
rians,  who  form  an  interesting,  rather  pitiful, 
somewhat  dangerous,  element  in  the  religious  life 
of  our  day.  In  their  view  the  world  as  a  whole 
is  all  wrong,  hopelessly  wrong.  They  have  no 
use  for  a  "  social  gospel  ";  they  distrust  efforts  to 
put  the  power  of  the  Christian  Church  into  move- 
ments designed  to  make  a  better  and  happier 
world;  they  scorn  such  efforts  as  "  mere  humani- 
tarianism."  The  world,  as  they  see  it,  is  going  to 
the  devil,  where  it  belongs;  and  nothing  can  save 
it  but  a  catastrophe,  a  miraculous  intervention;  and 
that,  in  reality,  will  not  save  the  world  so  much  as 
substitute  for  it  another  world. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  group  together  Nietz- 
sche and  Tolstoi,  the  formalist  and  the  fanatic. 
Yet  they  are  in  complete  agreement  in  their  con- 
viction that  Christianity  and  the  modern  world  are 
hopelessly  incompatible;  that  no  one  can  hold  to 
both;  that  Christian  principles  and  ideals  have  no 


8     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

vital  connection  with  the  world's  practical  life. 
One  says,  "  Christianity  and  the  world  are  incom- 
patible; therefore  I  give  up  Christianity."  The 
other  says,  "  Christianity  and  the  world  are  incom- 
patible; therefore  I  give  up  the  world."  But  they 
agree  in  leaving  the  world  untouched  by  the  power 
of  Christianity. 

Between  these  two  extremes  stands  the  real 
Christian,  the  wholesome  Christian,  who  lives  by 
the  faith  that  Christianity  is  in  the  world  to  save 
the  world,  not  merely  the  individual  in  the  world. 
Christianity  is  a  power  manifested  in  human  so- 
ciety for  its  redemption  and  transformation. 
The  Christian  "  way  "  is  not  most  of  all  a  way  to 
heaven,  but  far  more  a  way  to  fair  and  happy  liv- 
ing for  all  men  here.  Their  Christ  is  One  Who 
came  to  be  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords; 
such  a  Christ  must  be  tremendously  interested  in 
political  and  social  evolution.  Christianity  will 
never  have  come  to  Its  fruition  until  we  do  in  fact 
what  we  are  always  singing,  "  Bring  forth  the 
royal  diadem  and  crown  Him  Lord  of  all  ";  and 
that  not  In  some  distant  heavenly  realm,  but  here 
on  earth. 

How  splendid  Is  the  picture  presented  of  the 
goal  of  Christianity  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians!  How  tawdry  by  com- 
parison are  the  cheap  stage  settings,  the  canvas 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY       9 

and  paint  imitations  of  a  real  triumph,  set  before 
us  in  the  spectacular  pictures  of  pre-millenarian- 
ism !  Paul's  later  thought  is  incomparably  richer 
and  more  real  than  that  which  we  find  in  his  ear- 
liest letters,  those  to  the  Thessalonians.  Here  in 
the  cnapters  referred  to,  we  see  as  God's  purpose, 
in  creation,  in  evolution,  in  redemption,  "  to  sum 
up  all  things  in  Christ."  The  world,  "  all 
things,"  is  to  be  brought  "  into  subjection  under 
the  feet  of  Christ";  and  the  church  is  Christ's 
body,  His  instrument,  here  in  the  world  to  work 
out  the  will  of  Christ  in  the  world.  Christ's  aim 
is  to  bring  peace  on  earth,  through  "  breaking 
down  middle  walls  of  partition,"  and  making  of 
different  races  and  creeds  and  groups  "  one  new 
man,  so  making  peace." 

It  Is  a  defective  and  unsound  Christianity  which 
is  overmuch  exercised  about  heaven,  or  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  or  any  other  unearthly  as- 
pects of  religion.  The  true  Christian  sees  God 
here  and  now,  "  every  common  bush  afire  with 
God."  He  cries  with  the  clear-vlsioned  Psalmist, 
"  the  heavens  are  thine;  the  earth  also  is  thine  "; 
*'  the  earth  Is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof; 
the  world  and  they  that  dwell  therein."  The  true 
Christian  sees  himself  not  as  one  set  apart  and 
waiting  for  some  future  divine  use;  but  as  one  ap- 
prenticed to  God  in  His  present  work-shop,  where 


lo    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

his  motto  may  be;  "  my  Father  worketh  even  until 
now,  and  I  work."  The  church,  in  his  view,  is 
not  an  ark,  or  a  hfe-boat,  in  which  one  here  and 
another  there  are  saved;  it  is  a  movement,  a  broth- 
erhood, to  save  the  corporate  life  of  humanity. 
Salvation  becomes  to  him  not  a  purely  personal 
and  individual  affair,  but  a  common  racial  and  so- 
cial experience  or  aspiration.  God  works  with 
man  even  more  than  with  men.  The  best  mark 
of  a  "  saved  "  man  is  not  that  he  wants  to  go  to 
heaven,  but  that  he  is  willing  to  go  to  China,  or 
to  the  battle-field  in  France,  or  to  the  slum  of  the 
city,  or  to  the  last  dollar  of  his  resources,  or  to 
the  limit  of  his  energy,  to  set  forward  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  with  a  great  faith  in  his  heart  that  Christ 
in  him  can  make  a  difference  that  will  last,  here  on 
the  earth.  Real  Christianity  is  not  like  those 
richly  illustrated  lectures  on  Colorado  or  Califor- 
nia, skillfully  designed  to  make  people  want  to  go 
to  that  distant  place  and  live  there;  it  is  rather  like 
a  talk  on  community  welfare,  arousing  those  who 
hear  it  to  a  new  enthusiasm  for  making  their  own 
neighborhood  a  better,  healthier,  happier  place. 

If  one  holds  the  "  otherworldly  "  view  of  the 
nature  and  function  of  Christianity,  then  there  Is 
no  place  in  his  scheme  of  things  for  Christian  In- 
ternationalism. He  may  hope  that  the  relations 
between  nations  might  be  somewhat  improved  by 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY      ii 

the  presence  of  Christian  individuals  in  places  of 
influence  and  authority,  but  he  cannot  hope  for  the 
dominance  of  Christianity  in  world-affairs,  until 
the  end  of  the  world  comes,  and  God  sets  up  a  new 
world  which  shall  stand  forever  as  a  confession 
that  He  met  defeat  in  this  present  world. 

But  if  one  takes  the  wholesome  view,  then  he 
will  confidently  expect  Christianity  to  manifest  its 
power  supremely  in  the  control  of  international  re- 
lations. For  he  sees  that  Christ  came,  and  still 
comes,  to  make  different  not  only  individuals,  but 
homes,  and  schools,  and  neighborhoods,  and  cities, 
and  commerce,  and  politics;  and  the  very  climax 
of  that  process  whereby  Christianity  climbs  to  the 
seat  of  authority  is  in  the  dominance  of  interna- 
tional life  and  relations  by  Christian  principles  and 
the  Christian  spirit.  That  is  the  hardest,  the  no- 
blest, task  of  all  for  Christianity  to  achieve. 

Christianity  has  proved  its  power  in  the  home; 
there  are  Christian  homes,  many  of  them.  It  has 
shown  its  power  in  communities.  No  community 
ever  had  a  hospital  before  Christ  touched  it. 
There  are  such  things  as  Christian  cities.  But  the 
mighty  realm  of  diplomacy,  of  international  rela- 
tions, has  scarce  been  touched  by  Christianity  as 
yet.  It  stands  the  greatest  and  most  stubborn  of 
all  heathen  provinces. 

The  true  Christian  believes  that  there  is  '*  no 


12     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

other  name  under  heaven,  given  among  men, 
whereby  we  must  be  saved."  And  he  believes 
that  Is  true  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  individuals. 
He  sees  Christian  Internationalism  not  only  as  a 
clear  possibility,  a  desirable  achievement,  but  as 
the  very  capstone  of  the  social  structure  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  All  other  out-workings  and 
demonstrations  of  Christianity  must  be  imperfect 
and  defective  until  Christ  is  enthroned  there  at  the 
top.  A  man  is  not  wholly  saved,  his  redemption 
lacks  something,  if  his  home  is  not  Christian 
through  and  through;  a  home  cannot  be  wholly 
Christian  until  the  city  in  which  It  is  located  is  un- 
der the  power  of  Christian  ideals;  a  city  is  ham- 
pered in  Its  outliving  of  Christian  Ideals  If  it  is 
part  of  a  nation  dominated  by  unchristian  princi- 
ples; and  a  nation  can  never  be  fully  and  really 
Christian  until  Christianity  rules  the  Inter-related 
life  of  the  nations. 

Can  any  one  doubt  or  question  this  Influence  of 
the  larger  environment,  In  this  day?  Here  are 
thousands  of  Christian  young  men;  each  of  them 
knows  God  has  said,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  He 
does  not  want  to  kill;  he  hates  the  Idea  of  murder. 
He  has  no  hatred  for  other  men.  But  he  must 
march  forth  to  kill  other  men;  he  must  be  trained 
to  kill  them  expertly  and  expeditiously.  And  the 
fault  lies  not  in  any  defect  In  his  individual  Chris- 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY      13 

tian  life  or  ideals,  but  In  the  simple  fact  that  inter- 
national relations  have  never  become  a  part  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  and  back  from  that  unregener- 
ated  part  of  the  common  life  of  man  reach  influ- 
ences which  make  it  necessary  for  that  Christian 
man  to  do  what  his  conscience  condemns  as  essen- 
tially unchristian  acts.  The  man  cannot  be 
wholly  Christian  until  the  world  in  which  he  lives 
is  subject  to  the  rule  of  Christ. 

The  holiest,  the  most  exciting,  the  most  adven- 
turous, the  most  truly  Christian  cause  Is  this  of 
Christianizing  international  relations.  All  else 
waits  upon  the  success  of  that. 

It  may  be  wise  to  say  a  word  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  word  "  Internationalism."  There  Is,  in 
some  quarters,  grave  distrust  of  the  word  and  the 
idea  back  of  It,  a  fear  that  the  development  of  in- 
ternationalism would  mean  the  decline  of  patriot- 
ism, a  distrust  accentuated  by  the  Russian  situa- 
tion. Was  it  not  internationalism,  men  ask,  which 
dissolved  Russia  and  left  it  helpless  In  the  hands 
of  Germany?  Was  It  not  Internationalism  which 
worked  so  insidiously  and  so  disastrously  In  the 
Italian  army?  Is  it  not  a  dangerous  word  and  a 
dangerous  propaganda  ? 

No !  It  was  not  internationalism  that  brought 
Russia  to  her  present  Impotence;  it  was  un-natlon- 
alism.     Internationalism,  as  I  am  using  the  term, 


14     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

as  I  believe  It  should  be  used,  does  not  mean  a  sort 
of  free  love  toward  nations,  a  promiscuity  of  rela- 
tionship in  ^vhich  all  the  sacredness  of  patriotism  is 
lost.  Those  are  quite  right  who  tell  us  that  it  is 
just  as  immoral  to  say  "  I  love  every  other  country 
as  well  as  my  own  "  as  to  say,  "  I  love  every  other 
woman  as  well  as  my  wife."  God  has  set  us  In 
families  and  in  nations,  and  we  realize  our  best 
possibilities  in  loyal  allegiance  to  those  relation- 
ships. There  is  still  a  place,  and  always  will  be,  in 
the  heart  of  the  Christian  man  for  that  intense  de- 
votion to  one's  own  nation  that  leads  to  the  solemn 
declaration,  "  If  I  forget  thee,  may  my  hand  for- 
get its  cunning." 

But  the  sort  of  patriotism  w^hlch  stops  at  the 
border,  the  sort  of  patriotism  which  Involves  ha- 
tred and  suspicion  toward  other  nations.  Is  defec- 
tive and  unworthy.  Am  I  worse  as  a  father  for 
being  a  loyal  citizen?  Am  I  weaker  in  civic  loy- 
alty for  being  devoted  to  the  nation?  Why  then 
should  it  be  assumed  that  I  shall  be  a  weaker  pa- 
triot for  being  a  thorough-going  Internationalist? 
Is  it  not  reasonable  to  go  on  with  the  process  until 
the  highest  loyalty  to  the  widest  fellowship  of  all 
takes  supreme  place  among  my  Interests? 

If  1  am  a  true  patriot,  I  will  want  my  nation  to 
have  Its  rights  In  Its  dealings  with  other  nations; 
but.  If  I  am  a  true  patriot,  I  will  even  more  desire 


FUNCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY     15 

that  my  nation  prove  true  to  its  duties  and  fullill  its 
rightful  obligations,  in  the  general  society  of  the 
nations.  Just  as  my  love  for  my  home  makes  me 
the  more  eager  for  a  national  life  worthy  of  that 
home,  so  my  love  of  country  should  make  me  more 
eager  for  an  international  life  and  order  in  which  a 
nation  can  safely  play  the  part  of  a  Christian  na- 
tion. 

Christianity  is  here  in  the  world  not  as  an  inter- 
ruption, or  an  irruption,  that  it  may  pull  a  few  out 
from  a  general  wreck  and  take  them  to  some  better 
place.  Christianity  is  here  on  a  mission,  to  trans- 
form "  this  present  evil  world  "  into  the  world 
God  means  to  have  here,  the  world  that  shall  be  a 
home  for  God  and  His  children,  a  society  of  men 
and  women  and  children,  organized  into  national 
groups,  but  growing  into  a  world-wide  fellow- 
ship of  knowledge,  love,  and  achievement,  under 
the  leadership  of  Jesus  Christ. 

An  army,  pushing  its  victorious  advance,  finds 
one  stubborn  stronghold  which  resists;  and  it  real- 
izes that  it  must  capture  that  one  center  of  resist- 
ance, or  its  advance  is  imperilled.  So  Christian- 
ity, advancing  to  the  control  of  the  world's  life, 
halts  before  this  great  citadel  of  International  Re- 
lationships, where  pagan  forces  are  still  strongly 
Intrenched;  and  it  realizes  that  the  whole  program 
and  hope  of  Christian  redemption  is  held  back, 


1 6     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

thwarted,  Imperilled,  until  that  fortress  is  reduced. 
The  social  life  of  nations  must  be  brought  into 
obedience  to  Christ.  The  principles  and  ideals  of 
Christianity  must  be  worked  out  for  great  groups 
of  people,  and  set  In  control  of  their  common 
thought  and  conduct.  Only  so  can  the  creation, 
"  groaning  and  travailing  In  pain  together  even 
until  now,  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  sons  of 
God." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    AND    INTERNATIONALISM 

Christians  base  their  faith  upon  the  Bible. 
They  profess  to  regard  It  as  the  rule  of  their  faith 
and  conduct.  It  becomes  then  a  matter  of  real 
importance  that  any  movement  or  cause  claiming 
the  interest  and  support  of  Christian  people  should 
be  able  to  justify  Itself  on  scriptural  grounds,  or  at 
least  to  show  that  it  Is  In  general  harmony  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Bible  rather  than  antagonistic  to 
them. 

What  Is  the  attitude  of  the  Old  Testament  to- 
ward internationalism?  One  might  be  a  reason- 
ably careful  reader  of  the  Old  Testament  books, 
or  even  a  student  of  them,  and  come  upon  little  or 
nothing  on  which  to  base  the  theory  or  practice  of 
godly  Internationalism. 

There  have  been  few  books  so  openly  and  in- 
tensely nationalistic  as  the  Old  Testament  writings. 
There  have  been  few  races  so  vividly  conscious  of 
being  different  from  other  people,  having  a  holy 
mission,  few  people  so  certain  that  the  purposes  of 
God  were  wrapped  up  In  them,  as  the  ancient  He- 

17 


1 8     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

brews  were.  In  fact  the  remark  has  been  common 
of  late  that  the  God  of  Germany  is  in  reality  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  God  of  a 
chosen  people,  Who  sends  out  His  people  with  a 
passion  and  a  program  and  a  sword,  to  make  the 
world  serve  that  one  chosen  nation.  There  has 
been  a  distinct  reaction  against  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, on  the  ground  that  there  is  so  much  in  it 
which  seems  to  harmonize  with  that  intensely  na- 
tionalistic temper  of  which  Germany  is  the  chief 
exponent.  Irving  Bacheller,  in  his  little  book, 
*'  Keeping  up  with  William,"  says  that  it  is  time 
the  Old  Testament  was  "  divested  of  its  odor  of 
sanctity,"  for  much  of  it  "  reads  like  a  report  of 
the  German  General  Staff." 

There  is  much  to  warrant  the  Impression  that 
Internationalism  finds  little  recognition  in  the  Old 
Testament.  We  see  God  choosing  one  man,  and 
then  the  descendants  of  that  one  man,  as  His  pe- 
culiar people.  He  gives  His  law  to  them;  He 
makes  His  revelations  through  them;  He  protects 
and  guides  them;  He  sends  them  to  dispossess  and 
kill  off  and  subjugate  other  races.  Their  heroes 
are  intense  nationalists, —  Moses,  abandoning 
Egypt,  demanding  the  right  of  way  through  ter- 
ritories belonging  to  other  races,  leading  a  war 
of  extermination  against  the  Amalekites  because 
of  some  ancient  Injury  Israel  had  suffered  at  their 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  19 

hands;  Joshua,  refushig  to  make  any  covenant  or 
agreement  with  the  people  of  Canaan,  killing  men, 
women,  children,  and  cattle  when  a  town  was  cap- 
tured; David,  setting  Israel  high  above  the  sur- 
rounding nations;  Ezra  and  Nehemlah,  with  their 
strict  prohibition  of  inter-marriage,  and  their  rigid 
refusal  to  come  to  any  friendly  relations  with  the 
Samaritans;  the  Maccabees,  nationalists  to  the  last 
degree.  It  might  well  seem  that  the  first  thing 
for  the  internationalist  to  do,  if  he  would  have  a 
Bible  that  would  sanction  his  aims  and  hopes, 
would  be  to  throw  out  from  his  Bible  the  entire 
Old  Testament. 

But  closer  and  deeper  study  reveals  certain 
facts.  In  the  hght  of  which  our  estimate  must  be 
revised.  Here  are  certain  conclusions  which  be- 
come clear  to  the  honest  and  thoughtful  student: 

First,  we  must  admit  the  presence,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  of  an  outgrown  element  of  aggressive 
nationalism,  and  must  beware  of  counting  it  still 
authoritative  or  admirable. 

Christ  did  come  to  fulfill  the  law,  to  do  away 
with  much  of  the  old  thought  and  practice  of  the 
people  of  God.  The  Old  Testament  Is  rightly 
bound  in  with  the  New  as  one  volume  of  the  Word 
of  God;  our  Bible  would  be  seriously  Impaired 
were  the  Old  Testament  to  be  dropped  from  it; 
for  It  shows  the  growth  of  our  faith.      Christianity" 


20     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

cannot  be  rightly  seen  in  a  static  condition.  It 
must  be  seen  living,  growing,  changing,  to  be  seen 
at  all  as  it  is.  Growth  and  change  are  essential  to 
it.  Christianity  cannot  be  set  forth  in  a  set  of 
slides,  each  complete  in  itself.  It  must  be  seen  as 
a  moving  picture,  where  one  scene  melts  into  an- 
other, and  the  true  impression  comes  from  the 
movement  of  the  whole,  rather  than  from  the  sep- 
arate parts.  The  Bible  is  the  record  of  how 
Christianity  came  to  be  what  it  is. 

That  necessarily  involves  the  inclusion,  in  the 
earlier  portions  of  the  Bible,  of  much  which  now 
is  obsolete,  and  which  we  must  frankly  admit  to 
be  outworn  or  outgrown.  We  may  then,  and  we 
should,  accept  the  fact  of  the  presence,  here  and 
there  through  the  Old  Testament,  of  a  bitter,  sec- 
tional, nationalistic  tone, —  the  temper  we  associ- 
ate w^th  the  word  "  jingo."  The  Book  of  Esther 
glories  in  the  exaltation  of  the  Jew,  in  the  misfor- 
tunes that  come  upon  his  enemies,  in  the  glory  of 
his  victory  over  them.  Luther  heartily  disliked 
Esther,  calling  it  a  "  heathen  "  book.  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  set  forth  a  policy  of  race  exclusiveness, 
which  makes  it  clear  to  us  that  the  feud  between 
the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  was  not  all  the  fault 
of  the  Samaritans.  Certain  of  the  Psahns  and  of 
the  prophecies  reflect  this  temper,  with  their  in- 
tensely nationalistic  spirit,  their  glorification  of  the 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  21 

Hebrew  race.  We  are  shown,  as  the  ideal  ruler, 
one  who  shall  rule  the  other  nations  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  and  "  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  ves- 
sel." The  Messiah,  riding  forth  at  the  head  of 
his  troops,  will  smite  the  foe  so  vehemently  that 
the  ravines  will  be  filled  with  corpses. 

The  plain,  crude,  original  meaning  of  many  of 
these  Old  Testament  passages  has  been  softened 
and  obscured  by  a  process  of  spiritualization,  a  re- 
interpretation  in  the  light  of  Christian  thoughts 
and  emotions.  We  read  the  63rd  chapter  of  Isa- 
iah, ''  Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with 
dyed  garments  from  Bozrah,"  and  we  see  Jesus 
Christ,  Savior  of  the  world,  "  marching  in  the 
greatness  of  his  strength,"  "  treading  the  wine- 
press alone,"  "  bringing  salvation."  The  blood 
we  see  is  His  own  blood,  shed  to  redeem  men. 
We  need  not  quarrel  with  those  who  can  thus  take 
that  passage.  But  it  is  beyond  all  question  that 
no  such  vision  was  in  the  mind  of  the  original 
writer.  He  saw  a  conqueror,  a  War-Lord,  re- 
turning from  a  bloody  campaign  against  Edom, 
the  enemy  of  Israel;  He  has  trampled  the  people 
in  his  fury,  and  it  is  their  blood  that  is  sprinkled 
on  his  garments.  It  is  a  cry  of  satisfied  ven- 
geance, of  exultation  almost  savage  over  punish- 
ment meted  out  to  men  of  another,  an  alien,  race. 

In  our  attitude  toward  the  presence  of  such 


22     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

passages  In  the  Bible,  we  are  helped  very  greatly 
by  the  newer  light  on  the  Bible  and  on  the  doctrine 
of  Its  Inspiration.  A  half  century  ago  or  less 
many  were  seriously  troubled  over  the  divine  ap- 
proval of  the  slaughter  of  the  Canaanltes,  and  the 
unchristian  spirit  of  certain  Psalms.  I  remember 
the  way  in  which  my  boyish  protests  were  met,  with 
reference  to  the  slaughter  of  the  Canaanltes.  I 
was  told  that  the  Canaanltes  were  the  worst  of  all 
people,  brutal  and  beastly  folk,  who  had  to  be  ex- 
terminated as  a  jungle  full  of  wild  beasts  might  be. 
But  better  acquaintance  with  the  facts  showed  me, 
later,  that  there  was  no  foundation  for  the  claim 
that  the  Canaanltes  were  the  wickedest  of  all  men. 
The  argument  ran  merrily  'round  In  a  circle,  as 
many  another  has  done :  The  Israelites  killed  the 
Canaanltes  because  they  were  so  wicked.  How 
do  we  know  they  were  so  wicked?  Why,  they 
must  have  been,  or  God's  people  wouldn't  have 
killed  them.  It  Is  a  characteristic  bit  of  squirrel- 
cage  theology. 

The  sane,  true  explanation  Is  in  terms  of 
growth.  These  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
valuable  still  as  showing  us  that  out  of  which  we 
have  grown,  the  crude,  early  stages  of  that  devel- 
opment of  the  knowledge  and  service  of  God  which 
comes  to  us  purified  by  the  handling  of  Jesus 
Christ.     They  are  in  the  Bible  as  warnings  to  us, 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  23 

not  as  examples,  not  as  justification  for  a  similar 
spirit  on  our  part.  He  who  uses  the  nationalistic 
temper  of  the  Old  Testament  to  justify  a  narrow 
jingo  spirit  to-day  shows  that  he  has  not  grasped 
the  very  heart-significance  of  the  Bible  as  a  revela- 
tion of  God  and  of  religion;  for  that  heart-signifi- 
cance lies  in  growth,  movement,  religious  develop- 
ment which  is  ever  leaving  ''  its  low-vaulted  past." 

The  Word  of  God  is  our  light.  All  along  the 
coast  line  of  our  country  are  light-houses.  Many 
of  them  are  set  to  indicate  where  safe  harbors  lie. 
They  say  to  the  mariner,  "  Come;  here  is  safety." 
But  many  more  of  them  are  set  to  warn  the  mari- 
ner away  from  dangers.  They  say,  "Beware; 
come  not  here;  a  ship  was  wrecked  here."  Who 
would  say  that  the  lights  that  warn  are  not  as  use- 
ful as  the  lights  that  beckon?  Much  that  we  find 
In  the  Old  Testament  the  Spirit  of  God  has  set 
there  for  warning,  to  show  us  where  the  people  of 
God  made  false  steps,  thought  wrong  thoughts, 
followed  wrong  lines  that  led  to  disaster.  And 
the  Bible  Is  never  more  truly  a  "  light  to  our  way  " 
than  when  It  thus  shows  us  the  mistakes  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  that  we  may  not  fall  Into  the  same 
errors. 

This  then  is  the  first  fact  to  remember  In  esti- 
mating the  relation  between  the  Old  Testament 
and  internationalism, —  that  much  of  the  Bible  Is 


24     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

outgrown,  to  be  frankly  set  aside  as  possessing  no 
authority  over  us  to-day. 

The  second  great  fact  to  be  kept  in  mind  is  the 
fact  that  these  very  parts  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  this  entire  policy  of  exclusiveness  and  narrow 
nationalism,  were  necessary  at  the  time  that  men 
might  be  carried  on  through  them  into  broader 
and  more  generous  views  and  practices. 

So  far  as  we  can  see,  it  was  necessary  that  God, 
in  leading  men  on  to  the  full  truth,  should  set  apart 
one  people,  and  train  them,  with  an  exclusiveness 
almost  rigid,  in  order  to  the  ultimate  good  and 
blessedness  of  mankind.  This  is  not  to  justify  all 
their  exclusiveness  and  narrowness.  When  God 
allows  an  inch,  men  take  a  yard,  particularly  when 
it  is  in  the  direction  of  their  natural  instincts. 

But  that  method  of  restricted,  intensive  cultiva- 
tion is  the  method  of  nature,  and  that  means  that 
it  is  the  method  of  God.  When  Luther  Burbank 
undertakes  to  produce  a  plant  of  a  certain  variety 
superior  to  any  now  to  be  found,  his  ultimate  hope 
and  aim  is  to  have  that  plant  cultivated  every- 
where, proving  a  blessing  to  all  men.  But  he  be- 
gins by  carefully  isolating  certain  plants  for  ex- 
perimentation; he  guards  them  jealously  from  in- 
fluences surrounding  them,  until  he  has  produced 
the  superior  plant. 

There  never  was  a  religious  leader  so  concerned 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  25 

for  all  humanity,  so  free  from  racial  or  class  par- 
ticularity, as  Jesus.  Yet  Jesus  deliberately  chose 
twelve  men  and  gave  the  major  part  of  His  atten- 
tion to  them.  His  aim  was  the  reaching  of  all 
men;  but  His  method  was  the  method  of  restricted 
and  Intensive  cultivation. 

An  example  from  political  evolution  is  right  at 
hand.  America  began  as  an  experiment  in  democ- 
racy. Our  first  President  warned  us,  in  a  phrase 
still  harped  upon,  to  beware  of  "  entangling  al- 
liances." It  was  wise  and  necessary  advice.  Un- 
til we  had  established  our  government,  confirmed 
our  strength,  tested  our  principles,  achieved  a  real 
and  thorough  unity  —  and  we  had  to  fight  a  great 
war  before  all  that  was  won  —  it  was  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  avoid  entanglements,  to  pursue  a  pol- 
icy of  comparative  isolation.  But  now  we  are  be- 
ginning to  lift  our  eyes  to  a  wider  horizon,  to  see 
that  *'  what  God  has  given  us.  He  has  given  us  for 
all  mankind,"  to  see,  as  President  Wilson  so  forc- 
ibly said  in  his  address  at  Mount  Vernon  on  July 
4th  last,  that  Washington  and  his  fellows  were  do- 
ing something  of  vital  concern  to  all  the  world  of 
mankind,  and  not  for  one  people  only. 

So  in  the  outworking  of  the  true  religion,  that 
restriction  which  marked  the  earlier  stages  was  In 
order  to  future  growth,  to  universal  blessing.  We 
can  see  that  It  may  have  been  necessary,  perhaps  it 


26    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

was  the  only  way,  to  keep  the  people  aloof,  to 
guard  them  jealously  from  inter-mixture  of  race  or 
of  thought,  to  cultivate  in  them  an  intense  nation- 
alism. We  may  well  remind  ourselves  also  that 
*'  internationalism,"  in  the  modern  sense  of  that 
word,  was  outside  the  range  of  the  mind  of  Old 
Testament  times.  The  only  world-unity  men  then 
saw  as  possible  was  an  imperial  unity,  in  which 
one  power  should  dominate  the  whole  world. 
There  was  little  in  such  a  vision  to  arouse  the  en- 
thusiasm of  believers  in  God  and  In  justice  and 
freedom. 

We  can  clearly  see  then  that  the  Intense  nation- 
alism of  the  Old  Testament  was  in  part  due  to  the 
crude,  defective,  primitive  stage  of  thought  and 
feeling  at  which  the  people  of  God  stood;  and  In 
part  also  may  be  justified  as  necessary  in  the  prog- 
ress of  mankind  toward  larger  views  and  more  hu- 
mane and  brotherly  practices. 

A  third  fact  we  should  keep  In  mind  Is  the  pres- 
ence In  the  Old  Testament  of  a  surprisingly  large 
amount  of  material  which  counteracts  and  protests 
against  the  narrow  and  exclusive  nationalism 
which  some  thoughtlessly  take  as  characteristic  of 
the  entire  Old  Testament. 

In  the  original  word  to  Abraham,  calling  him  to 
be  the  chosen  man  of  God,  It  Is  distinctly  stated, 
"  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  27 

blessed."  Very  often  we  come  upon  a  realization, 
clear  or  vague,  that  the  real  end  of  Israel's  exclu- 
siveness  is  universal  brotherhood. 

We  do  find  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  holding  up  as 
worthy  of  the  approval  of  God  and  of  all  right 
men  their  rigid  policy  of  non-intercourse  between 
Israel  and  other  peoples.  But  we  find  also  a 
book,  coming  probably  from  that  very  period, 
which  quietly  but  effectively  puts  forth  the  other 
side, —  all  the  more  effectively  for  setting  it  in 
story-form.  The  book  of  Ruth  takes  a  Moabitess 
as  its  heroine,  and  makes  her  shine  forth  as  one 
of  the  great  and  true  women  of  God,  a  better  wife, 
a  better  daughter,  than  her  Hebrew  contempora- 
ries. What  an  effective  thrust  at  the  narrow  pol- 
icy of  isolation,  to  show  that  David,  hero  of  the 
Jewish  heart,  was  the  fruit  of  a  mixed  marriage! 
It  is  a  marvel  to  find  in  the  Old  Testament  so  lib- 
eral a  book,  one  with  so  broad  and  generous  a 
view.  It  shows  us  the  Spirit  of  the  God  of  Broth- 
erllness  at  work  in  the  midst  of  the  spirit  of  ex- 
cluslveness  and  race  prejudice. 

The  book  of  Esther  does  exhibit  a  spirit  of  In- 
tense nationalism  which  is  quite  unchristian.  But 
over  against  It  we  may  set  another  Old  Testament 
writing, —  the  book  of  Jonah, —  like  Ruth  the 
more  effective  for  being  In  story  form.  We  see 
the  Hebrew  prophet  contrasted  unfavorably  with 


28     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

the  heathen  seamen,  their  simple  piety  more  true 
than  his,  for  all  his  superior  enlightenment.  We 
see  the  people  of  Nineveh, —  that  hated,  heathen 
city,  ready  to  repent,  and,  through  their  penitence, 
winning  favor  from  God.  (How  quick  was  our 
Lord  to  see  and  set  forth  the  significance  of  that 
scene!)  Above  all  we  see  the  prophet,  type  of 
that  very  nationalism  so  strong  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, reluctant  to  go  to  Nineveh  and  preach,  be- 
cause in  his  heart  he  suspected  that  God  had  wider 
sympathies  than  the  prophet's  theology  allowed 
Him, —  we  see  the  prophet  rebuked  and  shamed 
by  the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  for  other 
men  and  other  races,  a  love  that  cares  for  men  as 
men,  for  children,  even  for  the  beasts.  The  spirit 
of  internationalism  comes  to  fine  flower  in  the 
book  of  Jonah. 

Some  of  the  prophets  are  uncompromising  in 
their  sense  that  Israel  has  a  monopoly  of  the  favor 
of  God.  But  one  clear  note  of  protest  sounds 
from  the  last  chapter  of  Amos,  in  which  the  man 
of  God  tells  Israel  that  they  are  not  the  only 
people  God  cares  for  and  favors.  Even  as  He 
brought  up  Israel  from  Egypt,  so  has  He  brought 
up  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor,  and  the  Syrians 
from  Kir.  The  nation  that  Is  truly  God's  Chosen 
is  the  righteous  nation.  How  sturdy  in  its  sense 
of  a  universal  reign  of  law  is  the  opening  sermon 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  29 

of  Amos,  where,  after  denouncing  the  sins  of  the 
surrounding  nations,  the  prophet  declares  that  Is- 
rael and  Judah  shall  be  judged  exactly  as  Edom 
and  Moab  and  Ammon  are  to  be  judged. 

The  63rd  chapter  of  Isaiah  may  show  us  a  na- 
tionahstic  hero,  red  with  the  blood  of  other  peo- 
ples, justly  slain  that  Israel  may  be  set  on  high 
above  them;  but  the  42nd  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and 
the  other  great  ''  Servant "  passages  show  us  a 
great,  world-wide,  humane  destiny  for  the  chosen 
people.  They  are  to  be  "  a  light  to  the  nations," 
and  "  a  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
There  is  one  inspired  bit  in  which  the  prophet  fore- 
sees a  day  in  which  Egypt  and  Assyria,  the  two 
great  dread  enemies  of  Israel,  shall  no  longer  be 
looked  on  as  the  enemies  of  God,  but  God  is  repre- 
ss ted  as  saying,  *'  Israel  shall  be  a  .third  with 
Egypt  and  Assyria,  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth;  for  that  Jehovah  of  Hosts  hath  blessed 
them,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people,  and 
Assyria  the  work  of  my  hands,  and  Israel  mine 
inheritance." 

The  last  book  in  the  Old  Testament  strikes  a 
clear  and  high  note.  The  prophet  represents  Je- 
hovah as  protesting  that  He  Is  not  dependent  on 
Israel  for  worship;  ''  for  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same,  my  name  Is 
great  among  the  nations;  and  In  every  place  in- 


30    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

cense  is  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a  pure  offer- 
ing." 

So,  here  and  there  in  the  Old  Testament,  far 
more  frequently  than  we  sometimes  note,  shines 
forth  a  faith  In  universal  brotherhood,  a  light  of 
true  Internationalism. 

The  fourth  fact  we  should  hold  In  mind  Is  that 
in  the  Old  Testament  prophets  we  find  the  roots  of 
our  universal  religion,  and  of  our  faith  In  the  pos- 
sibility and  desirability  of  Internationalism. 

It  should  be  to  us  a  cause  of  profound  encour- 
agement, that  It  was  In  a  time  like  that  In  which 
we  are  living  that  the  foundations  of  faith  In  the 
one  and  only  God  were  laid.  A  ruthless  empire 
was  over-running  the  earth,  devouring  small  na- 
tions, breaking  covenants,  compelling  the  peace- 
loving  to  fight  for  life  and  freedom.  And  It  was 
just  then  that,  under  the  pressure  of  the  world-sit- 
uation, the  great  prophets  of  the  eighth  century 
before  Christ  awoke  to  the  mighty  truth  that  there 
Is  but  One  God  for  all  the  earth  and  all  the  races 
upon  It.  He  It  Is  Who  calls  and  commands,  uses, 
and  throws  aside,  the  mightiest  monarchs  and  em- 
pires. He  rules  In  heaven  and  earth.  Such  a 
faith  In  the  One  God  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  our 
religion,  and  all  our  faith  In  the  possibility  of  In- 
ternational law  and  order. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  31 

The  first  commandment  reflects  the  earHer  con- 
ception :  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me."  It  Is  not  a  declaration  that  there  Is  no  other 
God,  not  even  a  demand  that  Israel  shall  acknowl- 
edge no  other  God  as  real  and  existent.  It  Is  a 
command  to  Israel  not  to  set  other  gods  In  Je- 
hovah's presence.  "  Though  there  be  gods  many, 
yet  for  us  there  Is  but  one  God  " ;  that  was  Israel's 
attitude.  But  x^mos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  and  MIcah 
laid  the  granite  foundations  of  ethical  and  univer- 
sal religion  when  they  proclaimed  that  In  all  the 
universe  there  Is  no  God  but  Jehovah.  Faith  In 
the  one  God  of  all  humanity  Is  the  very  basis  of 
true  Internationalism.  The  question  which  com- 
pels all  true  men  who  face  It  to  answer  In  terms  of 
internationalism  Is  the  great  query  of  MalachI; 
*'  Have  we  not  all  one  Father?  Did  not  one  God 
create  us?  " 

So,  even  In  the  Old  Testament,  Is  found  the  con- 
ception of  Internationalism,  clear  evidence  that 
God's  aim  was  to  make  a  people  who  should  be 
servants  of  humanity,  that  all  men  might  come  at 
last  to  a  unity  of  faith  in  the  one  God,  their 
Father.  Seldom,  or  never,  reaching  the  height 
of  the  pure  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  mingled  with 
reactionary  statements  and  impulses  of  exclusive 
patriotism,  realized  by  only  a  few  who  climbed  to 


32     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

the  heights  while  the  mass  lingered  In  the  low 
places,  this  conception  of  the  unity  of  the  race  nev- 
ertheless haunted  the  consciousness  of  the  Hebrew 
seers,  who  saw  In  the  world's  life  a  movement  to- 
ward a  goal  set  forth  in  the  words  of  a  gifted  soul, 
"  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 

Under  the  inspiration  of  this  prophetic  vision, 
Judaism  had  become  to  a  limited  extent,  even  be- 
fore Christ  came,  a  missionary  religion,  with  a 
desire  to  bring  all  sorts  and  races  of  men  together. 
Too  often  its  missionary  zeal  was  fierce,  crude,  In- 
tolerant, stained  with  an  offensive  sense  of  supe- 
riority. Yet  some  there  were  who  saw  the  glory 
of  the  wider  view,  like  Philo  who  tried  to  combine 
the  Old  Testament  with  Plato's  dialogues,  that 
men  might  have  one  great  fountain  of  Inspiration 
for  their  thought  and  worship  of  God. 

In  making  ready  for  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Old  Testament  made  ready  for  the  coming  of 
universal  religion,  of  international  goodwill,  of  the 
fellowship  of  nations,  of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

And  all  along  the  way,  the  greatest  influence  of 
the  Old  Testament  toward  Internationalism  was  in 
its  clear  consciousness  that  God  Is  fundamentally 
a  God  of  principles  rather  than  of  people,  a  God 
of  justice,  righteousness,  freedom,  and  law,  rather 
than  a  God  tied  to  the  fortunes  of  one  race,  re- 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  33 

gardless  of  the  moral  and  religious  character  of 
that  race.  Such  a  faith  made  for  a  sane  interna- 
tionalism a  foundation  of  God  that  cannot  be 
moved,  but  abideth  forever. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND  INTERNATIONALISM 

One  might  expect,  in  passing  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  the  New,  to  come  out  of  the  twilight  Into 
the  clear  day,  to  find  full  and  unequivocal  support 
for  the  cause  of  Internationalism  in  the  Gospel  and 
the  literature  which  grew  from  it. 

But  this  is  not  the  case.  Jesus  gives  us  not  a 
word  of  clear,  specific  teaching  about  international 
relationships.  Just  as  the  ardent  internationalist 
is  tempted  to  throw  over  the  Old  Testament  be- 
cause a  rampant  nationalism  is  so  patent  on  the 
surface  of  much  of  it,  so  he  is  tempted  to  turn 
from  the  New  Testament  because  it  is  so  individ- 
ualistic in  tone  and  view. 

In  fact  there  are  three  characteristics  of  the 
teachings  of  Christ  which  repel  some  thoughtful 
socially-minded  folk,  and  fortify  some  of  the  re- 
actionary and  unprogressive  elements  in  the 
church. 

The  first  of  these  is  what  we  may  call  the  con- 
servatism of  Jesus.  He  seems  so  content  with 
things  as  they  are.     He  makes  attack  upon  so  few 

34 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  35 

political  abuses  or  social  evils.  The  tyranny  of 
Rome  was  a  very  real  and  very  oppressive  fact 
for  the  mass  of  men;  but  He  never  denounces  it; 
He  discourages  rather  than  foments  revolt  against 
it.  He  is  put  to  death  at  last  as  a  disturber  of  the 
peace,  an  enemy  of  the  existing  order;  but  the 
flimsy  and  false  charge  breaks  down.  In  fact 
there  has  scarcely  been,  in  all  the  riot  of  misinter- 
pretation of  Jesus,  a  conception  of  Him  more  out 
of  touch  with  the  facts  as  we  know  them,  than  the 
representation  of  Him  as  a  social  reformer,  an 
agitator,  a  rebel  against  the  existing  order. 
Those  who  present  Christ  in  this  garb  are  reading 
their  own  thoughts  and  beliefs  and  hopes  back  into 
Him,  and  making  Him  their  Incarnation,  just  as 
truly  and  as  absolutely  as  Is  the  veriest  mystic  who 
depicts  Jesus  as  always  crowned  with  a  halo  of 
heavenllness.  His  words  and  acts  were  marked 
with  a  strong  conservatism. 

The  second  characteristic  we  note  is  the  limited 
range  of  His  directions  and  principles.  If,  as  we 
profess  to  believe.  He  came  to  be  our  guide.  He 
left  many  paths  uncharted.  Nothing  Is  easier,  in 
principle,  than  to  conduct  one's  life  on  the  basis 
of  "  In  His  Steps,"  asking  "  what  would  Jesus 
do?  '*  Nothing  is  harder  than  to  discover  what 
Jesus  would  do,  in  those  wide  ranges  of  modern 
thought  and  conduct  which  He  never  entered.     So 


36    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

many  questions  that  are  real  and  vital  to  us  seem 
out  of  His  range.  The  nearest  approach  He 
made  to  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  a  godly- 
man  to  political  and  governmental  action  was  in 
the  counsel,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's";  Illuminating,  abiding,  in  its  Insight;  but 
vague  as  a  definite  direction;  for  It  leaves  entirely 
untouched  the  really  bothersome  question,  "  What 
really  is  Caesar's,  and  what  really  is  God's?  " 

How  many  and  how  grave  are  the  practical  mat- 
ters on  which  we  go  In  vain  to  the  specific  state- 
ments of  the  Gospel  for  guidance !  Child  labor, 
the  rights  of  women,  democracy  In  Industry,  the 
limits  of  patriotism,  the  use  of  force,  the  right  to 
go  to  war, —  these  are  a  few  of  the  questions 
which  sometimes  seem  to  us  matters  wellnigh  of 
life  and  death;  and  on  them  He  Is  silent.  He  set 
up  few  guide-posts. 

Many  have  raised  the  question  of  late.  What 
would  the  Good  Samaritan  have  done  had  he  come 
upon  the  scene  a  little  earlier,  while  the  thieves 
were  assaulting  the  traveler?  Would  Jesus  have 
made  the  hero  of  the  parable  join  In  the  fight,  use 
force  to  rescue  the  victim?  The  pacifist  is  sure 
He  would  not;  the  mass  of  Christians  believe  He 
would.  Many  of  us  find  ourselves  wishing  that 
the  Master,  here  and  elsewhere,  had  made  the  way 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  37 

of  practical  godliness  a  little  more  plain  before  our 
feet. 

The  third  marked  characteristic  of  His  teaching 
which  sometimes  disconcerts  us,  which  will  surely 
mislead  us  unless  we  are  on  guard,  is  the  individ- 
ualism of  it.  Jesus  deals  with  men  one  by  one, 
as  if  each  man  stood  alone  with  God.  He  is  very 
sensitive  to  human  relations,  very  clear  that  godli- 
ness must  and  will  work  out  good  social  values; 
but  He  seems  scarcely  conscious  of  the  network  of 
social  forces  and  movements  which  at  times  make 
us  feel  as  if  we  could  hardly  call  ourselves  individ- 
uals. 

When  we  grasp  these  characteristics  of  the 
thought  and  conduct  of  Jesus,  and  see  their  im- 
mense significance  for  our  modern  lives,  we  won- 
der if  we  can  hold  that  the  New  Testament  has 
any  vital  connection  with  social  progress,  and  the 
movement  toward  international  order.  We  re- 
member how  Bismarck  said,  ''  If  I  were  not  a 
Christian,  I  would  be  a  republican  " ;  and  we  won- 
der whether  there  may  not  be  some  fact-basis  for 
the  feeling  that  the  religion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  the  social-democratic  movement  have  lit- 
tle in  common. 

The  Christian,  whose  rule  of  life  is  to  follow 
Christ,  must  face  these  facts  honestly.  After  all, 
that   is   the   very   primary   element   in   following 


38     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

Christ,  to  face  facts  honestly.  How  shall  we 
meet  the  difficulties  created  by  these  facts?  We 
meet  them  by  the  frank  admission  that  Christ  was 
not,  Is  not,  and  never  meant  to  be,  a  giver  of  rules, 
a  law-maker,  an  Instructor  in  the  details  of  lifers 
technique.  His  method  and  aim  were  quite  dif- 
ferent. 

First,  we  can  see  very  readily  certain  conditions 
which  necessitated  some  limitation  of  the  range 
and  the  specific  guiding  value  of  His  teachings : 

Patriotism,  for  example,  was  an  impossibility  In 
His  day.  He  could  not  approach  the  subject  with- 
out at  once  endangering  His  life  and  work.  It 
was  only  by  extreme  caution  that  He  was  able  to 
keep  three  years  clear  for  His  work. 

Again,  there  is  a  very  real  sense  in  which  He 
was  limited  by  His  time.  Had  He  spoken  words 
specifically  applicable  to  the  conditions  of  modern 
Industry,  or  of  modern  social  development,  such 
words  would  have  thrown  Him  out  of  gear  with 
His  own  time,  would  have  made  Him  a  portent,  a 
thing  of  magic.  One  of  His  chief  glories  is  the 
perfect  naturalness  with  which  He  fits  Into  his- 
tory. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  limitation  we  note  In  His 
teachings  and  in  His  attitude  toward  specific  ques- 
tions is  due  In  part  to  the  fact  that  He  was  for  all 
time,  and  all  conditions,  and  therefore  could  not 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  39 

attend  with  too  great  particularity  to  those  condi- 
tions which  were  peculiar  to  His  own  day  and 
place.  When  He  did  come  close  to  the  peculiar 
thoughts  and  theories  of  His  day,  as,  for  example, 
in  the  ''  little  apocalypse  "  recorded  in  the  24th 
chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
misunderstanding  has  arisen,  and  literalists  have 
been  all  too  ready  to  take  the  transient  form  of 
His  teaching  for  its  inner  meaning.  He  was  for 
the  ages,  and  a  certain  measure  of  detachment 
from  the  concerns  of  any  particular  age  was  vital 
to  the  success  of  His  eternal  mission. 

But  the  reason  for  the  limited  range  of  His 
practical  guidance  and  example  lies  deeper  than 
these  explanations.  When  we  come  to  a  true  view 
of  Jesus  and  His  teaching,  we  see  clearly  that  His 
method  and  His  aim  were  such  as  to  forbid  deal- 
ing overmuch  with  specific  details. 

His  method  finds  statement  in  the  saying,  "  I  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  He  was  con- 
structive, not  destructive.  He  was  concerned  not 
with  the  taking  away  of  evil  things  but  with  the 
starting  of  good  things  that  should  in  time  displace 
the  evil.  He  did  come  to  "  take  away  the  sin  of 
the  world  " ;  but  His  method  of  taking  it  away  was 
to  establish  and  confirm  goodness.  He  would  al- 
ways set  up  a  positive  ideal,  give  men  a  spirit  in 
which  to  breathe  and  live,  and  trust  the  ideal,  the 


40    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

spirit  to  overcome  in  time  the  evil  in  the  world. 

This  was  His  method  with  the  law,  and  with  the 
whole  system  of  Jewish  exclusiveness.  When 
Paul  saw  the  law,  he  smote  it,  with  a  fierce  joy  at 
being  privileged  to  help  break  it  to  bits.  But  one 
searches  in  vain  for  any  iconoclasm  in  the  soul  of 
Jesus.  He  even  spoke  words  that  gave  the  Ju- 
daistic  Christians  In  the  early  church  some  excuse 
for  claiming  that  their  Master  intended  that  they 
should  always  be  good  Jews.  *'  Think  not  that  I 
am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets.'*  "  I 
am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel.'*  ^'  Go  show  yourself  to  the  priest." 
*'  Whosoever  shall  break  one  of  these  least  com- 
mandments, and  shall  teach  men  so,  the  same  shall 
be  called  the  least  In  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

But  He  Introduced,  as  the  essential  element  of 
religion,  as  Its  very  heart,  the  principle  or  Ideal 
of  free,  filial  love  to  God;  and  in  the  end  It  was 
not  chiefly  Paul's  sledge-hammer  blows,  but  Jesus' 
doctrine  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  that  brought 
the  law  to  Impotence,  and  made  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tian ashamed  of  his  heritage  of  exclusiveness. 

Such  has  been  Christ's  method  In  dealing  with 
slavery.  It  was  a  hideous  and  monstrous  evil  In 
His  day,  a  curse  on  slave  and  master.  Must  not 
Jesus  have  seen  what  It  meant?  Yet  where  In  His 
teachings  can  one  find  a  clear,  specific  word  deal- 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  41 

ing  with  the  problem  of  slavery?  He  assumes 
slaves  and  serfs  as  part  of  the  order  of  society. 

But  He  brings  into  form  and  into  force  the 
great  principle  of  brotherhood,  of  the  dignity  and 
worth  of  each  soul  of  man  In  the  eyes  of  God; 
and  ultimately,  slowly,  yet  certainly,  slavery  finds 
Itself  on  the  defensive,  and  losing  ground,  and 
at  last  Is  vanquished.  Christ  has  done  It;  yet 
He  never  definitely  attacked  the  institution  of 
slavery. 

So  has  It  been  In  the  matter  of  exploitation  of 
women  and  children.  Here  the  Master  did  come 
nearer  to  a  positive  and  specific  rule,  in  His  clear 
direction  with  reference  to  marriage  and  divorce, 
and  His  warnings  against  those  who  despise  the 
children  or  make  them  stumble.  Yet  the  principle 
holds,  that  He  set  up  an  ideal,  and  left  it  to  work 
the  ruin  of  the  systems  that  profited  from  the 
weakness  of  women  and  children.  He  taught  the 
sacredness  of  personality,  the  loftiness  and  beauty 
of  love;  and  that  force  has  driven  the  world  so 
far  as  it  has  progressed  toward  fairness  to  woman 
and  child. 

He  gave  no  definite  Instructions  as  to  the  rela- 
tion of  His  followers  to  war.  There  have  been 
honest  followers  of  Jesus  who  feel  that  He  com- 
manded non-resistance;  there  have  been  Christians 
of  equal  honesty  that  have  gone  Into  battle  with 


42     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

clean  consciences  and  a  sense  of  deep  consecration 
as  they  fought  against  their  fellowmen.  How 
painfully  earnest  Christians  have  searched  the 
Gospel  for  light  on  their  duty  in  time  of  war! 
And  to  what  widely-separated  views  their  studies 
have  led  them. 

Yet  if  ever,  as  we  firmly  believe  and  hope,  war 
shall  follow  slavery  to  the  limbo  of  discarded 
follies  and  crimes,  the  mightiest  force  in  sending 
it  thither  will  have  been  the  leadership  of  Jesus 
Christ.  For  His  great  principle  of  brotherly  love 
is  fundamentally  incompatible  with  war,  and 
sooner  or  later  one  of  them  must  go,  vanquished 
by  the  other.  Christ  started  a  society,  a  brother- 
hood, destined  to  unite  the  world.  Better  and 
more  surely  than  by  any  frontal  attack,  He  thereby 
made  internationalism  a  certainty  of  the  world's 
future  life. 

But  not  only  His  method.  His  aim  also  explains 
His  lack  of  definiteness.  For  His  aim,  as  the 
Great  Teacher  of  men,  was,  and  ever  is,  not  to 
relieve  the  reason  and  conscience  of  mankind,  not 
to  lighten  the  burden  of  thought  and  study;  but 
rather  to  increase  that  burden,  to  make  men  more 
conscientious,  more  eager,  more  active  in  mind  and 
moral  sense. 

That  is  to  say.  He  came  not  to  answer  ques- 
tions, but  to  ask  them;  not  to  settle  men's  souls, 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  43 

but  to  provoke  them;  not  to  save  men  from  prob- 
lems, but  to  save  them  from  their  indolence;  not 
to  make  life  easier,  but  to  make  It  more  educative. 
We  ase  quite  in  error  when  we  think  of  Christ  as 
coming  to  give  us  a  key  to  life's  difficult  text-book. 
He  came  to  give  us  a  finer  text-book,  calling  for 
keener  study,  and  deeper  devotion,  and  more  In- 
telligent and  persistent  reasoning.  The  fact  has 
been  noted  that  when  Jesus  gave  the  first  great 
commandment.  He  added  to  the  Deuteronomic 
statement  the  necessity  that  we  love  God  with  all 
our  mind.  His  aim  was  ever  to  challenge  men  to 
the  fullest,  deepest  use  of  their  powers. 

Christ's  teachings  are  to  us  what  the  compass 
Is  to  the  mariner.  We  mis-state  their  use  as  we 
mis-state  the  function  of  the  compass.  We  say 
sometimes  that  a  sailor  need  not  go  astray,  be- 
cause he  has  a  magic  needle  which  will  always 
point  the  way  for  him.  But  the  compass  does  not 
do  that.  If  the  mariner  steers  always  where  the 
needle  points,  he  will  make  shipwreck  soon. 
What  the  compass  does  Is  to  point  out  a  direction; 
and  on  the  basis  of  that,  the  mariner  determines 
his  course.  But  he  must  take  pains  to  see  that  no 
mass  of  Iron  or  steel  Is  near  to  deflect  the  needle, 
he  must  allow  for  variations  of  the  needle,  he 
must  take  careful  observations  to  determine  his 
immediate  location,  and  he  must  study  his  chart 


44     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

to  know  what  lies  about  his  ship  In  that  place;  only 
then  can  he  sail  safely.  So  to  the  Christian  Christ 
points  out  a  star,  sets  forth  unerringly  an  ideal,  a 
principle.  But  the  Christian  must  free  himself 
from  prejudices  and  preceptlons  and  selfish  mo- 
tives, he  must  allow  for  accidents  of  form  and 
statement  In  Christ's  sayings,  he  must  see  and  in- 
terpret the  circumstances  In  which  he  Is  set,  and  he 
must  read  and  study  to  know  his  course. 

There  Is  of  course  a  danger  in  stating  thus  the 
function  and  limitation  of  Christ's  leadership, — 
a  danger  that  we  shall  be  content  to  admire  His 
ideals  and  principles,  without  making  positive  and 
definite  connection  between  them  and  our  practi- 
cal conduct,  that  we  shall  yield  Him  only  a  senti- 
mental and  theoretical  obedience.  We  must  ever 
remind  ourselves  that  our  obedience  to  him,  while 
never  literal,  must  always  be  serious.  Better  the 
extreme  of  literal  following  than  the  extreme  of 
contentment  with  a  dream  of  following.  After 
all,  the  llteralists,  St.  Francis  and  Tolstoi,  and  the 
like,  have  made  upon  the  world  a  mighty  impres- 
sion of  reality  In  their  religion.  Better  too  literal 
than  too  elastic. 

But  better  far  than  either  the  literal  or  the  loose 
Is  the  real,  wholesome  follower  of  Jesus,  who  takes 
the  great  ideals  of  the  Gospel,  and  with  sincerity, 
courage,    simplicity,    and    earnest    thoughtfulness 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  45 

tries  to  make  the  details  of  his  conduct  and  rela- 
tionships realize  those  principles  of  Jesus. 

Taken  thus,  the  Gospel  gives  wonderful  sup- 
port to  the  cause  of  internationalism;  for  it  gives 
ideals  and  a  spirit  which  ultimately  demand  a  sane 
and  far-going  internationalism.  When  Jesus  de- 
liberately chose  from  the  Old  Testament  the  ideal 
of  the  Servant  rather  than  the  ideal  of  the  War- 
Lord,  He  set  in  motion  forces  which  will  eventu- 
ally set  war  aside.  Paul  saw  the  tendency,  when, 
in  the  opening  chapters  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  he  says  of  Christ,  "  For  He  is  our  peace, 
who  hath  made  both  one,  and  hath  broken  down 
the  middle  wall  of  partition,  so  making  peace.'* 
When  Kant  wrote  his  epochal  tract  on  Durable 
Peace,  in  1795,  he  gave  as  one  of  the  three  condi- 
tions of  stable  peace  the  extension  of  the  spirit  of 
goodwill  between  races  and  nations, —  the  very 
work  of  Christ. 

In  the  social  life  of  the  present  are  two  extreme 
types,  each  of  which  seriously  hinders  the  progress 
of  society  toward  an  international  order.  They 
are  the  Militarist  and  the  Pacifist.  I  use  each 
term  In  an  opprobrious  sense.  By  the  militarist 
I  mean  one  who  holds  war  to  be  necessary,  and 
good;  who  counts  it  one  of  the  chief  duties  of  a 
state  to  be  completely  ready  for  war  at  any  time; 
and  who  regards  war  as  the  ultimate  arbiter  in 


46     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

human  affairs.  By  the  pacifist  I  mean  the  non- 
resistant,  the  Tolstoyan,  the  one  who  holds  that 
the  use  of  physical  force  Is  immoral,  or,  In  any 
event,  that  war  Is  always  unjustifiable,  and  that  no 
Christian  can  rightly  take  part  In  it. 

We  need  to  see  clearly  that  neither  of  these 
extreme  types  can  claim  the  sanction  of  Christ. 
Certainly  the  militarist  cannot.  No  one  can  be 
a  militarist  and  a  Christian.  For  the  militaristic 
view  contradicts  Christ's  trust  In  man,  in  love.  In 
the  essential  goodness  of  God  and  of  life;  it  denies 
ground  for  the  hopefulness  and  the  joy  which  is 
of  the  very  stuff  of  the  Christian  spirit. 

But,  while  the  pacifist  may  make  out  a  better 
case,  he  too  is  far  from  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Certainly  we  can  say  this  at  least,  that  one  need 
not  be  a  pacifist  to  be  a  Christian;  and  the  pacifist 
misses  the  balance  of  Christ.  He  glorifies  method 
above  spirit;  he  makes  a  fetich  of  one  saying,  taken 
with  bald  literalism. 

Christ  does  say,  "  Resist  not  evil."  But  to  cen- 
ter the  Gospel  on  that  saying,  as  Tolstoi  did,  is  to 
reveal  a  condition  of  painful  religious  astigmat- 
ism. Why  take  that  saying  with  a  literalism  we 
cannot  apply  elsewhere?  Does  not  the  Master 
go  on  to  say,  "  Give  to  every  one  that  asketh 
thee  "?  Shall  I  then  let  my  child  have  poison,  or 
unlimited  sweets,  If  he  asks  for  them?     "  From 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  47 

him  that  would  take  thy  goods,  ask  them  not 
again."  Shall  we  let  burglars  roam  at  will 
through  our  streets  and  homes,  and  leave  them  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  whatever  they  may  fancy 
to  take?  Is  not  the  Tolstoyan  caught  in  his  own 
trap  when  he  comes  to  the  counsel, —  no  less  posi- 
tive and  explicit  than  the  command  not  to  resist 
evil, — "  Whoso  would  compel  thee  to  go  one  mile, 
go  with  him  two"?  For  the  verb  in  that  sen- 
tence means  government  action,  conscription,  de- 
mand for  military  service  or  assistance.  It  has 
passed  into  technical  use  as  the  legal  term  "  An- 
garry,"  "  Jus  Angariae,"  under  the  sanction  of 
which  the  United  States  lately  took  over  the  ships 
of  Holland.  Literally,  then,  the  verse  bears  the 
meaning,  "  If  the  government  demands  service  of 
you,  conscripts  you,  give  double  what  is  de- 
manded." 

War  is  a  brutal,  a  detestable  business,  which 
could  have  no  place  in  a  world  ordered  according 
to  the  ideals  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  such  a  judgment 
all  true  Christians  must  agree.  Yet  when,  for  our 
sins  and  the  sins  of  our  fathers,  or  for  the  sins  of 
our  contemporaries  of  which  we  may  be  compara- 
tively guiltless,  war  has  come,  and,  so  far  as  we 
can  see,  freedom  and  joy  and  justice  for  the  future 
hang  upon  the  issue  of  the  conflict.  It  is  pitiful  to 
sec  men  content  to  base  their  Christian  attitude 


48     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

and  duty  on  the  letter  of  one  saying  of  Christ, 
when  life  is  challenging  them  to  a  decision  so  great 
that  all  the  light  God  has  given  to  all  men  is  not 
too  much  to  illumine  the  path,  and  all  the  reason 
and  conscience  they  possess  must  be  taxed  to  the 
utmost  to  find  the  worthy  response.  "  War  is 
hell  ";  but  "  though  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold 
Thou  art  there  ";  and  sometimes  one  muot  be  will- 
ing to  descend  into  hell  if  he  would  keep  company 
with  Christ. 

Thus,  though  the  Master  of  Christians  said  no 
specific  word  about  international  relations,  He  set 
in  motion  forces,  principles,  ideals,  which,  given 
fair  and  full  opportunity,  will  work  out  an  interna- 
tional brotherhood,  in  which  nations  shall  live  to- 
gether like  neighbors  in  God's  great  city.  It  is 
not  without  profound  significance  that  the  narra- 
tive of  His  life  shows  us  shepherds  from  the  coun- 
tryside and  Wise  Men  from  distant  lands,  meet- 
ing at  His  cradle;  and  that  over  His  cross  hung  a 
placard,  written  in  Hebrew,  and  Latin,  and  Greek; 
for  all  the  world  was  concerned  in  Him,  the  Son 
of  Man.  To  leave  out  Christ  and  His  Gospel 
would  be  to  leave  out  the  mightiest  force  making 
for  internationalism.  For  the  spirit  He  taught 
and  exemplified  Is  the  very  source  of  our  hope  of  a 
better  and  more  brotherly  world.  No  one  can 
pray  the  Lord's  Prayer,  in  a  large  and  worthy 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  49 

spirit,  and  not  be  an  internationalist;  for  to  pray 
"  Thy  Kingdom  come  "  is  to  pray  for  righteous- 
ness, peace,  and  joy  the  world  over;  and  to  pray 
*'  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  the 
heavens  "  is  to  consecrate  one's  self  to  the  ideal 
of  a  human  society  in  which  the  various  states  shall 
move  in  harmony  and  order  such  as  mark  the 
courses  of  the  stars,  great  and  small  alike  con- 
trolled by  the  mighty,  majestic,  and  perfect  will 
of  God. 

Christ  is  no  dreamer;  His  Gospel  is  no  purely 
individualistic  message,  unrelated  to  the  vast  social 
questions  and  political  programs  of  our  great  day. 
He  does  stand  nearer  to  the  dreamer  than  to  the 
materialist.  If  we  must  choose,  give  us  Tolstoi 
as  an  example  of  what  it  means  to  be  a  man  of 
God,  rather  than  Bismarck;  give  us  poor,  help- 
less, befuddled  Russia  as  a  national  ideal,  rather 
than  cold-blooded,  hard-hearted,  efficient  Prussia. 
But  the  choice  is  not  confined  to  those  extremes. 
There  is  ''  a  more  excellent  way."  I  dare  to  hold 
up,  as  nearer  than  either  Tolstoi  or  Bismarck 
to  the  Gospel  ideal  of  what  a  man  should  be  in  his 
relation  to  the  practical  affairs  of  the  world,  a  bet- 
ter Christian,  a  better  internationalist  than  either, 
our  own  Lincoln.  Committed  to  peace  and  jus- 
tice and  Christian  Idealism,  as  truly  as  was  the 
soul  of  the  great  Russian  prophet,  the  very  hero 


so     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

of  democracy  and  of  humane  social  conduct,  yet 
firm  and  relentless  in  his  pursuit  of  justice  and 
order,  he  has  left  us  an  example  of  the  man  who 
is  true  to  Christ  without  forfeiting  his  part  In  the 
stern  tasks  of  the  social  order.  "  With  malice 
toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness 
in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right," — 
that  is  a  spirit  caught  from  Christ.  We  see  in 
Lincoln  a  truer,  saner  example  of  what  It  means 
to  live  in  the  world  after  Christ's  spirit  and  way 
than  we  see  in  the  Prussian  statesman  or  In  the 
Russian  mystic;  and  we  dare  to  say  that  In  Lin- 
coln's America  we  find  a  closer  approximation  to 
the  ideal  of  a  Christian  nation,  and  a  mightier 
force  toward  enduring  peace  and  a  right  interna- 
tional-order, than  In  Militarist  Prussia  or  Pacifist 
Russia. 

It  is  in  Christ,  His  Gospel,  His  spirit,  that  true 
internationalism  finds  its  best  expression,  Its  might- 
iest help,  its  surest  hope.  And  some  day  the  par- 
able of  the  Prodigal  will  be  fulfilled  on  a  world- 
scale, and  the  whole  race  of  mankind  will  arise 
and  go  to  the  Father  In  penitence  for  its  past, 
henceforth  to  live  the  life  of  the  family  of  God, 
as  He  taught  us  to  live  In  Christ  Jesus.  Then  will 
come  the  great  days  of  a  Christian  world-order. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CHRISTIANITY   AND    INTERNATIONALISM 

When  we  speak  of  the  relation  of  Christianity 
to  InternationaHsm,  we  may  mean  only  that  with 
which  the  last  chapter  deals, —  the  relation  of  the 
great  principles  and  Ideals  and  faiths  of  the  Chris- 
tian system  to  the  movement  for  a  better  inter- 
national order. 

But  Christianity  is  more  than  a  system  of  faiths 
and  principles.  It  is  an  institution,  a  movement, 
a  part  of  human  history,  a  factor  in  social  evolu- 
tion. 

The  Christian  faith  took  shape  in  an  Institution; 
more  than  that,  it  worked  itself  into  many  institu- 
tions. It  became  a  movement.  The  principles 
and  ideals  of  Christianity  profoundly  influenced 
the  social  and  political  development  of  the  race, 
and  that  development  in  turn  reacted  upon  the 
faiths  and  forms  of  the  Christian  church. 

Jesus  left  no  set  forms  or  Institutions  for  the 
brotherhood  He  founded.  He  never  used  the 
word  "  church  "  In  the  formal,  technical  sense  of 
that  term.     He  created  a  brotherhood,  with  latent 

51 


52     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

power  to  become  a  world  religion ;  but  He  showed 
a  divine  carelessness  for  the  forms  it  might  take 
to  itself. 

When  the  forms  of  organization  appeared, 
they  took  on  at  once  a  new  and  a  universal  mean- 
ing and  appeal.  Christianity  took  shape  in  an 
international  institution,  as  a  religion  for  all  men, 
transcending  the  bounds  of  nationahty  and  class. 

It  was  a  movement  profoundly  significant  for 
internationalism,  no  less  than  for  religion,  which 
began  at  Antioch,  a  movement  so  novel  that  it  had 
to  find  a  new  name.  Up  to  that  time  Christianity 
had  been  no  more  than  a  Jewish  sect.  But  the 
ideas  and  faiths  which  were  central  in  it  naturally 
led  its  adherents  to  where  they  could  not  help 
passing  over  the  bounds  of  their  own  race.  Christ 
had  spoken  words  prophetic  of  the  universal  range 
of  His  influence:  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  "  Ye  shall  be 
my  witnesses  —  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  True,  these  words  were  not  so  precise, 
and  clear,  and  Indubitable,  nor  was  the  message  of 
universal  brotherhood  so^  single,  that  there  was  no 
room  for  doubt  or  hesitation.  It  took  the  vision 
on  the  roof  of  Joppa  to  convince  Peter  that  Gen- 
tiles had  a  right  to  the  privileges  of  the  church. 
A  sharp  and  long  conflict  was  necessary  before 
Paul  could  lead  the  church  as  a  whole  Into  a  world- 


CHRISTIANITY  53 

view  of  its  mission.  But  Christianity  came  to 
that  world-view,  that  consciousness  of  a  universal 
mission,  and  it  then  stood  forth  in  its  real  meaning 
and  power,  as  an  organization  transcending  all 
bounds  and  limits,  so  that  "  in  Christ  Jesus  there 
can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  barbarian,  Scythian, 
bondman,  freeman;  but  Christ  is  all  and  in  you 
all." 

Here  we  find  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  rapid 
spread  of  early  Christianity.  The  world  was 
ready  for  a  religion  that  took  the  world  into  its 
view,  a  religion  international  In  character  and  con- 
viction. Rome  had,  in  a  way,  unified  the  world; 
perhaps  in  the  only  way  then  possible,  by  imperial 
dominion.  One  has  but  to  read  Hatch's  "  Influ- 
ence of  Greek  Usage  on  the  Christian  Church,"  or 
Harnack's  "  Mission  and  Expansion  of  Christian- 
ity," to  realize  how  marvelously  the  world  which 
primitive  Christianity  faced  was  a  unit.  There 
was  easy  communication  by  road  and  by  speech. 
Rome  laid  the  roads,  and  Greece  provided  the 
language.  Paul  could  speak  wellnigh  anywhere 
without  the  need  of  an  Interpreter.  There  were 
many  wandering  lecturers,  teachers,  preachers, 
prophets  of  strange  cults,  old  and  new;  there  were 
guilds  of  working-men,  with  features  that  strike  us 
as  quite  modern,  such  as  sidkness  benefits,  and 
burial  provision  and  the  like.     There  was  easy 


54    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

passage  from  one  place  to  another;  on  a  tomb  In 
Phrygia  was  found  an  inscription  telling  that  the 
merchant  there  buried  had  made  the  journey  to 
Rome  seventy-two  separate  times.  It  was  not 
unlike  our  19th  century,  this  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  Into  this  world,  diversified  yet 
one,  came  Christianity,  with  its  passion  for  hu- 
manity, its  exaltation  of  brotherhood  Into  a  creed, 
its  Identification  of  the  supreme  man,  the  Lord  of 
all,  not  with  kings  and  mighty  men,  but  with  the 
lowly,  with  carpenters  and  fishermen,  its  glow  of 
impatience  toward  artificial  distinctions.  The 
world  was  ready  for  an  inclusive  religion,  which 
would  exalt  the  brother  of  low  degree,  and  bring 
down  the  pride  of  the  rich  and  mighty,  by  the 
revelation  of  the  greatness  of  the  soul  into  which 
Christ  came. 

Why  was  it  that  Rome,  so  tolerant  of  all  forms 
of  religion,  made  implacable  war  upon  Christian- 
ity? Largely,  no  doubt,  because  of  Its  uncom- 
promising spirit.  It  opposed  to  the  imperial  wor- 
ship a  worship  that  tended  to  make  men  conscious 
of  their  unity  quite  apart  from  their  connection 
with  the  Roman  empire.  Rome  saw  that  here 
was  something  new,  a  new  international  force  and 
movement,  a  rival  to  the  Empire. 

It  Is  amazing  how  swiftly,  and  how  thoroughly, 
the  Christian  church  grew  Into  an  organism  which 


CHRISTIANITY  55 

the  Empire  had  reason  to  view  with  respect  and 
with  fear.  The  growth  was  largely  due  to  the 
international  character  of  Christianity.  It  re- 
fused respect  to  the  things  that  divided  men.  It 
held  their  allegiance  to  a  kingdom  transcending  all 
bounds  and  distinctions.  In  those  first  centuries 
Christianity  stood  for  a  sublime  ideal,  a  new  inter- 
national force.  What  a  stupendous  change  in 
the  point  of  view  when  a  Roman  Emperor  put 
upon  his  banner  a  cross, —  symbol  of  Rome's 
heaviest  and  most  disgraceful  punishment  for 
crime  and  sedition.  It  was  as  if  the  Kaiser  should 
substitute  for  the  Prussian  Eagle  one  of  Rae- 
makers'  tragic  figures  symbolizing  Belgium  under 
the  heel  of  Germany. 

One  of  the  chief  glories  of  those  early  centuries 
was  the  vivid  consciousness  that  the  church  was  a 
unity  transcending  all  distinctions,  a  supra-national 
body.  That  fact  set  the  church  above  emperors. 
One  of  the  great  scenes  in  Christian  history  is  the 
picture  of  Ambrose,  refusing  the  sacrament  to  the 
great  Theodosius,  until  he  should  repent  of  his 
bloody  slaughter  of  the  Thessalonlans.  In  the 
name  of  the  sacred  brotherhood  of  humanity,  the 
Christian  prelate  stood  above  the  Emperor. 

For  some  hundreds  of  years  the  Catholic 
Church  stood  splendid  and  mighty  as  the  repre- 
sentative  of  an   international,   or   supra-national 


S6     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

force.  Amid  much  that  was  evil  and  false  in  that 
ancient  CathoHc  Church  there  was  this  at  least 
of  good,  that  it  claimed  the  first  allegiance  of  men 
to  something  higher  than  their  political  rulers, 
something  which  united  men  of  different  races, 
even  when  they  made  war  upon  each  other,  some- 
thing inclusive  of  their  racial  divisions,  a  visible 
representative  of  the  ideal  of  the  Kiiigdom  of  God 
on  earth. 

But  the  church  fell  from  its  high  estate.  It  is 
interesting  to  speculate  and  dream  on  what  the 
Catholic  Christian  Church  might  have  been  and 
done  in  the  life  of  Europe,  had  it  kept  faith  with 
its  high  ideal,  steered  clear  of  politics,  and  given 
itself  to  its  sacred  work,  holding  its  ideal  of  a 
universal  brotherhood  clearly  before  kings,  in- 
stead of  taking  their  tricks  and  ambitions  as  its 
own  method  and  spirit,  and  finally  coming  to  where 
it  was  more  concerned  with  crowning  and  uncrown- 
ing emperors  than  with  telling  them  the  truth  of 
God  and  man.  It  was  a  tragic  fall  from  Ambrose 
to  Hildebrand.  The  church  failed  because  it  sub- 
stituted for  its  real,  high,  spiritual  internationalism 
an  imperial  internationalism,  in  which  the  title 
"  Roman "  came  to  mean  more  than  either 
"  Christian  "  or  "  Cathohc." 

From  the  political  point  of  view,  there  were  two 
glaring  errors  on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  Church 


CHRISTIANITY  57 

which  made  the  Reformation  necessary.  The 
first  was  that  the  church  became  imperialistic;  the 
second  was  that  it  resisted  the  growth  of  healthy 
nationalism. 

The  Reformation  was  necessary  because  free- 
dom is  more  precious  than  unity.  International- 
ists must  ever  remember  that.  Incidentally  so 
must  all  who  work  for  church  unity.  When  the 
interests  of  freedom  and  of  unity  conflict,  unity 
must  go.  The  passion  of  patriotism,  the  Instinct 
of  nationality,  the  desire  of  racial  groups  to  be 
independent  political  entities,  self-ruling  and  free, 
was  wholesome  and  Irresistible.  It  is  still  strong, 
an  instinct  to  be  reckoned  with,  not  to  be  Ignored 
without  penalty.  One  of  the  Issues  of  the  war  is 
*'  the  right  of  self-determination  for  all  nations, 
great  or  small."  No  internationalism  will  be 
really  stable  or  valuable  which  violates  that  prin- 
ciple. 

Yet  we  cannot  withhold  regret  that  the  Refor- 
mation broke  the  sense  that  Christianity  was  a 
supra-national  body,  and  produced  churches  or- 
ganized on  national  lines.  How  painfully  little 
there  seemed  to  be  when  the  war  flamed  up  of  the 
consciousness  of  Christianity  as  transcending  na- 
tional Issues,  and  particular  loyalties!  The  most 
glaring  Illustration  of  the  complete  victory  of  the 
nationalistic  conception  of  Christianity  over  the 


SS    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

supra-nationalistic  was  In  the  haste  and  vehemence 
with  which  the  churchmen  of  Germany  ranged 
themselves  as  a  matter  of  course  on  the  side  of 
their  country.  But  in  what  nation  has  the  church 
proved  itself  more  than  a  patriotic  partisan? 
Has  it,  in  a  single  instance,  shown  itself  dominated 
by  a  consciousness  of  an  allegiance  transcending  its 
loyalty  to  the  one  nation?  It  may  be  that  the 
hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  American  church  to 
pronounce  judgment  at  once  against  Germany,  a 
hesitation  so  heavily  scored  by  some  critics  as  due 
to  cowardice  and  want  of  moral  vision,  was  In 
part  due  to  a  dim,  haunting  sense  that  Christianity 
ought  to  beware  of  partisanship,  ought  to  stand 
for  something  "  above  the  battle,"  something  not 
lightly  to  be  exchanged  for  partisan  satisfaction. 
In  any  event  the  war  gave  us  a  startling  revela- 
tion of  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  church 
had  been  split  Into  national  groups,  how  com- 
pletely It  had  lost  its  international  character. 
The  head  of  one  of  the  leading  theological  schools 
In  America  publicly  declared  in  a  recent  gathering 
of  clergy,  that  In  his  opinion  the  church  could  have 
no  higher  function  than  to  stand  for  and  stimulate 
patriotism,  to  become  an  agent  or  a  function  of  the 
national  life. 

Yet,  serious  as  has  been  this  loss  of  the  Interna- 
tional consciousness  of  the  Christian  church,  the 


CHRISTIANITY  59 

Reformation  on  the  whole  meant  gain,  not  loss,  in 
the  long  out-working  of  a  true  internationalism. 
For  the  true  development  of  an  international  life 
and  order  lay  along  the  lines  of  federation,  which 
must  be  built  upon  a  wholesome  and  thoroughgo- 
ing development  of  independent  nationalities;  and 
the  Protestant  movement,  dividing  the  church  into 
national  and  local  groups,  did  get  closer  than  it 
could  otherwise  have  done  to  the  spirit  and  life  of 
the  people,  came  to  share  their  deepest  aspirations, 
and  worked  with  the  separate  groups  toward  that 
international  order  which  will  come  at  last  from 
the  inter-relation  of  strong,  self-conscious,  inde- 
pendent states. 

Imperial  unity  was,  and  always  must  be,  a  colos- 
sal failure.  The  alternative  is  federative  unity, 
such  as  has  been  realized  on  a  small  scale  in  Swit- 
zerland, in  a  more  impressive  way  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  most  remarkably  in  the 
British  Empire.  For  the  outworking  of  such 
federative  unity  a  period  of  intense  nationalistic 
development  was  necessary;  and  the  Protestant 
movement,  by  furthering  and  encouraging  that 
process  through  the  establishment  of  nationalistic 
churches,  played  an  indispensable  part  in  making 
ready  for  the  new  order  of  internationalism. 

Nor  has  the  Protestant  Christian  church  wholly 
lost,  even  during  this  period  of  nationalistic  de- 


6o     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

velopment,  Its  consciousness  of  an  international 
mission  and  function.  It  has  been  doing  a  work 
of  immense  significance  for  internationalism  in  the 
foreign  missionary  enterprise. 

The  missionaries  have,  of  course,  been  sent  out, 
supported,  directed,  by  the  national  churches. 
That  has  worked  harm,  and  impaired  the  catholic 
and  Christian  value  of  the  missions  established. 
There  has  been  too  much  eagerness  to  make 
Christians  of  one  particular  stamp,  too  much  de- 
sire to  propagate  a  Christianity  distinguished  by 
special  creeds  and  forms  and  orders.  Moreover 
too  often  the  fact  that  missions  have  been  national 
enterprises  has  been  used  unscrupulously  by  politi- 
cal governments  to  advance  their  national  inter- 
ests. Trade  has  pushed  In,  following  the  mis- 
sionary, and  political  control  has  followed  trade. 
Irreparable  damage  has  been  done  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  by  such  acts  as  that  of  the  seizure  of 
Kiao-Chau  In  punishment  for  the  murder  of  two 
German  missionaries.  "  Spheres  of  Influence  '* 
have  too  often  been  claimed  on  the  basis  of  mis- 
sionary operations  on  the  part  of  national 
churches.  But  such  acts  of  Injustice  can  not  be 
laid  to  the  charge  of  the  church,  save  as  the  church 
has  failed  to  protest  against  them.  On  the  whole 
the  Protestant  churches  have,  In  their  foreign  mis- 
sionary operations,  kept  a  high  and  true  sense  of 


CHRISTIANITY  6i 

the  supra-national  character  of  their  work  and  of 
their  faith. 

And  how  great  and  true  has  been  the  influence 
of  missions  toward  real  international  good-will 
and  order!  The  missionary  enterprise  has 
strongly  tended  to  the  standardizing  of  thought, 
conduct,  and  customs.  It  has  thus  brought  the 
nations  nearer  to  a  common  life.  To  take  some 
of  the  best  of  our  western  folk  and  set  them  down 
quietly  in  some  crowded  center  of  Oriental  life, 
to  exemplify  every  day  and  year  after  year  what 
It  means  to  be  a  Christian  neighbor  and  citizen 
and  friend,  has  been  of  untold  advantage.  What 
the  Settlement  has  done  for  social  good-will  and 
progress  in  our  home  cities,  that  the  mission  com- 
pound has  done  in  many  a  foreign  locality. 

Missions  have  opened  the  way  to  trade,  a  great 
Influence  for  internationalism.  While  commerce 
has  often  made  for  the  debasement  of  backward 
peoples,  yet  on  the  whole  it  has  tended  to  bring 
the  world  together,  and  to  establish  connections 
that  bind  men  of  varied  nations  and  races  to  each 
other. 

Of  Immensely  greater  Importance  is  the  fact 
that  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions  has  put  into 
effect  the  creed  of  human  equality.  It  recognizes 
and  acknowledges  no  bar  of  race  or  color.  It 
takes  to  all  men  the  chief  blessings  enjoyed  by  the 


62     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

most  favored  races,  with  a  simple  but  fargolng 
faith  that  all  men  deserve  the  same  goods  of  life, 
and  that  these  foreigners  are  capable  of  receiving 
the  best  we  have  and  of  being  transformed  by  it. 

Foreign  Missions  greatly  help  the  cause  of  in- 
ternationalism by  bringing  into  play  the  forces  of 
Christian  trust,  sacrifice,  and  service. 

Set  the  nations  at  serving  each  other,  let  them 
follow  Jesus  in  taking  as  their  ideal,  not  the  "  War- 
Lord  "  of  the  Messianic  Psalms,  but  the  "  Servant 
of  the  Lord  "  of  the  great  exilic  prophecies,  and 
the  day  of  International  good-will  and  order  will 
speedily  dawn.  Here  the  Christian  churches  have 
been  pioneers,  in  this  sympathetic,  self-sacrificing, 
serviceable  enterprise  of  missions.  They  have 
rendered  this  service,  moreover,  precisely  in  che 
sensitive  places,  where  our  peace  is  jeopardized 
and  our  antagonisms  find  fuel,  and  wars  have  their 
obscure  and  hidden  roots.  It  is  only  a  superficial 
view  that  reckons  this  a  war  about  Alsace-Lor- 
raine, and  Serbia,  and  Italia  Irredenta.  It  is  far 
more  truly  a  war  about  Mesopotamia,  and  China, 
and  Persia,  and  Africa,  yes,  and  Mexico.  Chris- 
tian missions  have  been  powerful  and  indispensable 
agents  of  the  coming  internationalism  in  interpret- 
ing these  backward  races  to  the  powerful  nations 
of  the  West,  and  mediating  between  the  weakness 
of  the  one  and  the  strength  of  the  other. 


CHRISTIANITY  63 

But  the  greatest  contribution  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  to  the  cause  of  internationalism  has 
been  the  winning  of  men  of  all  races  and  condi- 
tions to  a  single  allegiance  to  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
to  a  brotherhood  of  faith  and  service  In  Him. 
Missions  have  been  creating  a  nucleus  of  Interna- 
tionally-minded folk,  and  that  not  alone  on  the  mis- 
sion field.  The  supporters  of  the  missionary  en- 
terprise in  the  home  lands  have  been  receiving  a 
steady  education  in  the  International  spirit  and 
mind.  One  cannot  really  be  enthusiastic  for  mis- 
sions and  not  be  a  thorough-going  internationalist. 

Closely  associated  with  the  missionary  move- 
ment as  an  agency  making  for  internationalism, — 
part  of  that  movement  Indeed,  in  the  right  and 
large  interpretation  —  are  the  great  world-move- 
ments for  the  betterment  of  mankind,  of  which 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  the  most 
conspicuous  example.  The  whole  world  has  been 
impressed  with  the  resourcefulness  and  power  with 
which  this  Association  has  taken  hold  of  the  moral 
and  religious  problems  connected  with  the  war, 
the  sane  and  wise  way  In  which  It  has  provided  the 
Christian  ministry  the  men  need  In  the  camps  and 
trenches.  But  not  all  have  realized  that  this 
power  to  meet  the  present  exigency  was  accumu- 
lated during  years  and  decades  of  development, 
in  which  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 


64     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISiM 

was  becoming  more  and  more  a  movement  of 
Christian  Internationalism.  The  Continuation 
Committee  of  the  Edinborough  Conference  is  an- 
other striking  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  real 
spirit  of  the  Christian  Church  is  an  international 
spirit. 

Such  mov^ements  as  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  the  Red  Cross  are  not  in  any 
sense  competitors  of  the  church;  they  are  not  In 
reality  auxiliary  to  the  church.  They  are  the 
church  functioning  in  the  only  possible  way  Prot- 
estant Christianity  could  function.  Critics  who 
condemn  the  church  for  leaving  to  "  outside  or- 
ganizations "  the  work  of  ministry  to  soul  and 
body  which  Is  being  done  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  Red  Cross  might  as 
well  condemn  a  mother  for  sending  her  children 
to  school  Instead  of  teaching  them  herself,  or 
buying  their  clothing  ready  made  instead  of  stitch- 
ing It  at  home.  The  conclusive  answer  to  such 
criticism  Is  the  question,  What  could  the  Prot- 
estant church  have  done,  had  It  tried  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  war  situation,  save  to  organize  just 
such  movements  as  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  the  Red  Cross?  It  Is  of  the  very 
essence  of  Protestantism  to  foster  a  spirit,  and 
leave  It  free  to  take  what  forms  It  will.  And 
these  great  organizations  are  simply  natural  and 


CHRISTIANITY  65 

effective  forms  which  the  spirit  of  Protestant 
Christianity  has  taken  to  itself  for  certain  specific 
and  important  ends. 

The  early  part  of  the  present  century  was 
marked  by  the  strong  growth  of  an  international 
consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  organized  church. 
Churchmen  in  Great  Britain  and  Germany  felt  the 
burden  of  responsibility  for  lessening  the  growing 
suspicion  and  estrangement  between  their  coun- 
tries, and  a  society  was  formed  for  bringing  about 
better  relations  between  the  churchmen  in  Great 
Britain  and  Germany.  This  led  to  a  general 
movement,  which  took  definite  shape  at  a  council 
held  at  Constance  in  late  July  and  early  August, 
19 14,  just  as  the  war  broke  out.  It  was  a  little 
company  that  gathered  there,  for  the  clouds  of  war 
were  thick;  but  representatives  of  some  twelve  or 
more  different  nationalities  met  as  Christian  broth- 
ers to  plan  for  the  revival  of  the  spirit  of  Christian 
brotherhood  between  men  of  different  races.  No 
one  who  was  present  can  ever  forget  those  ses- 
sions; they  were  prophetic  of  better  days  to  come, 
when  the  church  shall  have  regained  its  lost  supra- 
national character,  and  the  middle  walls  of  parti- 
tion shall  again  have  been  broken  down  by  Christ, 
the  maker  of  Peace. 

Out  of  this  Conference  at  Constance  came  the 
World    Alliance    for    Promoting    International 


66    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

Friendship  through  the  Churches,  which,  though 
hampered  and  almost  halted  by  the  war,  has 
nevertheless  preserved  a  healthy  and  vigorous  life, 
and  promises  much  for  Christian  internationalism 
In  the  future.  One  ventures  to  predict  that, 
though  the  racial  divisions  of  Christendom  have 
been  torn  apart  by  the  strong  hand  of  war,  when 
once  that  grip  is  loosened,  the  groups  on  either  side 
that  will  be  most  ready  to  renew  relations  of  good- 
will and  knit  up  again  the  fabric  of  severed  friend- 
ships, will  be  these  groups  of  Christians,  who  see 
and  accept  the  international  Implications  of  the 
faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Internationalism  has  been,  through  all  the  his- 
tory of  the  church,  a  part  of  Its  vital  spirit.  With 
all  Its  faults,  despite  its  piteous  weaknesses  and 
its  heinous  sins,  the  Christian  Church  has  acted  as 
a  force  to  draw  men  together,  to  make  them  con- 
scious of  a  real  unity  transcending  their  external 
differences,  to  make  them  dissatisfied  with  a  di- 
vided world,  restless  until  there  is  among  the 
severed  parts  of  humanity  an  at-one-ment,  a  re- 
conciliation. 

Moreover  the  missionary  enterprise  has  reacted 
vigorously  upon  the  international  movement.  For 
missions  find  themselves  hampered  at  every  step 
by  selfish  aggrandizement  at  the  expense  of  the 
weak  and  backward  races  to  which  the  church 


CHRISTIANITY  67 

ministers  through  Its  missionary  enterprise.  Next 
to  the  baleful  Influence  of  the  evil  Individual  who 
misrepresents  Christianity  In  the  sight  of  the 
Orient,  the  missionary  enterprise  suffers  most  from 
the  influence  of  the  immoral  conduct  of  so-called 
Christian  nations.  Nothing  could  give  so  power- 
ful an  Impetus  to  missions  as  could  a  righteous  so- 
lution of  the  relation  between  East  and  West, 
between  the  Great  Powers  and  the  great  needy 
races,  an  International  order  that  shall  "  set  judg- 
ment in  the  earth." 

Christianity  and  Internationalism  are  one  and 
the  same.  Internationalism  is  essentially  Chris- 
tian, In  origin  and  spirit  and  cardinal  tenets. 
Christianity  Is  essentially  International,  In  charac- 
ter and  faith.  One  cannot  be  a  true  Christian  and 
not  be  a  true  Internationalist.  Christianity  stands, 
the  first  great  movement  In  history,  the  only  great 
movement  in  religion,  the  founder  of  which  left 
as  his  great  commission  to  his  followers  a  com- 
mand to  go  to  "  all  nations,"  and  as  the  goal  of 
their  efforts  a  kingdom  the  citizens  of  which  shall 
be  a  "  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number, 
out  of  every  kindred  and  tribe  and  nation  and 
tongue,"  living  together  as  one  great  family, 
working  out  their  common  life  In  freedom  and  In 
peace,  a  world  kept  one  by  the  free  spirit  of  man 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 


CHAPTER  V 

DEMOCRACY   AND   INTERNATIONALISM 

The  war  has  brought  many  watchwords  into 
use.  So  great  and  diversified  a  conflict  must  find 
expression  in  many  phrases  and  slogans.  But 
here  in  America,  and  in  many  another  country  as 
well,  the  one  word  that  would  be  chosen,  should 
we  be  restricted  to  a  single  term,  would  undoubt- 
edly be  "  democracy." 

President  Wilson  has  made  this  the  key-word 
of  the  war.  It  has  been  well  said  that  even  more 
significant  than  the  entry  of  America  Into  the  war 
was  the  way  the  President  brought  America  in. 
Instantly  "  democracy  "  became  a  shining  emblem 
on  our  banners,  the  watchword  of  the  war. 

It  is  not,  as  the  President  has  said  clearly  and 
positively,  that  we  are  embarking  on  a  crusade  to 
made  the  world  democratic.  We  have  neither 
the  right  nor  the  power  to  decide  what  form  of 
government  any  nation  shall  adopt.  An  enforced 
democracy  would  be  a  contradiction  in  terms. 
But  we  have  the  right  and  the  duty,  and  we  think 
we  have  the  power,  to  see  that  democracy  has  a 

68 


DEMOCRACY  69 

fair  field  and  a  free  chance,  that  peoples  every- 
where shall  be  at  liberty  to  establish  and  maintain 
democratic  institutions,  if  they  so  desire,  and  that 
popular  governments,  wherever  set  up,  shall  not 
be  endangered  by  the  intrigues  of  autocratic 
cliques. 

The  President's  addresses  have  made  increas- 
ingly clear  the  fact  that  the  dominant  issue  in  the 
war  is  this  issue  of  democracy.  The  latest  con- 
cise definition  of  our  aim  makes  it  clear:  "  What 
we  seek  is  the  reign  of  law,  based  upon  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed,  and  sustained  by  the  organ- 
ized opinion  of  mankind." 

We  see  that  the  world  can  be  no  longer  safe  if 
autocratic  governments  are  left  free  and  uncon- 
trolled. We  are  beginning  to  see  the  priceless 
values  of  democracy.  One  of  the  chief  benefits  of 
the  war  is  the  recovery  of  that  sense  of  the  value 
and  glory  of  simple  democratic  ideals  which  we 
had  so  nearly  lost.  Not  many  years  ago  one 
heard  much  complaint  about  the  ill-working  of 
democracy,  with  an  occasional  sigh  for  "  the 
strong  man,  who  can  rule,"  with  emphatic  words 
about  the  slowness,  the  inefficiency,  the  corruption, 
the  clumsiness  of  popular  government.  Such 
complaints  have  ceased,  and  all  through  our  coun- 
try Is  a  profound  conviction  that  popular  govern- 
ment, however  inefficient,  and  slow,  and  cumber- 


70    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

some  It  may  be  in  contrast  with  the  processes  of 
autocracy,  is  worth  all  it  costs. 

If  we  would  work  toward  a  sane  and  lasting  in- 
ternationalism, we  must  realize  how  intimate  is  its 
connection  with  democracy.  Autocracy  is  as  in- 
compatible with  the  right  order  of  political  affairs 
as  slavery  was.  Dr.  Talcott  Williams  makes  a 
strong  and  true  historical  comparison  when  he 
says  that  our  war  of  i860  was  to  put  an  end  to 
the  impious  theory  that  certain  races  were  made  to 
serve  other  races,  while  the  present  war  is  to  put 
down  the  twin  blasphemy  that  certain  families 
were  made  to  rule  other  families. 

As  long  ago  as  1795,  Kant  published  a  pamphlet 
on  the  conditions  of  durable  peace,  in  which  he 
said  that  the  world  would  never  have  lasting  peace 
until  the  ultimate  control  of  governmental  proc- 
esses rested  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  rather  than 
in  the  hands  of  kings  or  select  groups.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  the  fact  that  the  great  philoso- 
pher, old  and  honored  as  he  was,  was  publicly 
snubbed  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  as  he  might  have 
been  by  the  latest  of  the  Kaisers.  We  are  coming 
to  see  with  increasing  clearness  that  Kant  was  right 
in  naming  the  democratization  of  the  nations  as 
one  condition  of  lasting  peace. 

What  do  we  mean  by  the  word  "  democracy  "? 
We  do  not  mean,  above  all,  a  form  of  government. 


DEMOCRACY  71 

We  Include  that  as  the  best  or  surest  means  to  the 
end  we  seek.     But  we  really  mean  something  like 
this,  do  we  not?  —  a  square  deal  and  a  fair  chance 
for  the  average  man  and  the  average  family;  and 
we  mean  also  a  conviction  that  the  best  way  to 
secure    and   safeguard   that   state   of    fairness   is 
through  letting  the  ultimate  responsibility  and  au- 
thority rest  In  the  hands  of  the  mass  of  the  people. 
The  democracy  for  which  we  are  fighting  Is  not 
Bolshevism,    or    any    class-conscious    rule.     For 
class-domination    violates    one    of    the    essential 
features  of  true  democracy,  by  excluding  some  ele- 
ments of  the  population  from  participation  In  the 
government.     To  exchange  the  rule  of  one  class 
for  the  rule  of  another  may  be  a  step  In  progress, 
but  It  Is  not  an  advance  In  democracy.     Mr.  Ray- 
mond Robins  tells  of  hearing  an  Impassioned  agi- 
tator at  a  meeting  of  worklngmen  cry  out,  "  Oh, 
you   men    In   your    automobiles,    we're    going   to 
change  all  that.     We're  going  to  pull  you  out  of 
your  autos  and  get  In  and  ride  ourselves."     He 
says  he  could  not  refrain  from  asking,  "  Are  you 
so  foolish  as  to  suppose  that  the  big  problems  we 
are  facing  can  ever  be  solved  by  changing  the  oc- 
cupants of  a  lot  of  automobiles?"     Some  of  us 
would  frankly  admit  that.  If  It  came  to  a  choice  be- 
tween submitting  to  the  rule  of  a  Kaiser  or  to  the 
rule  of  a  proletariat,  we  would  take  the  proletariat. 


72     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

But  democracy,  as  we  see  it,  means  the  combined 
sense  and  power  and  action  of  all  classes  in  the 
state.  James  Russell  Lowell  tells  us  that  one  of 
the  defects  in  the  American  idea  of  democracy  is 
that  we  think  it  means  that  any  fellow  oft  the 
street  can  run  a  locomotive  without  special  train- 
ing. Democracy  does  not  imply  a  trust  in  the 
average  man  to  do  the  business  of  governing  better 
than  the  expert  can  do  it.  It  implies  a  confidence 
in  the  honesty  of  the  mass  of  men,  and  in  their 
ability  to  find  the  man  best  fitted  to  govern.  It 
means  that  we  beheve  that,  on  the  whole,  we  shall 
be  more  sure  of  getting  the  right  men  in  office  by 
letting  the  mass  of  people  choose  them  than  in  any 
other  way.  And  we  think  our  faith  is  justified  by 
comparing  our  list  of  Presidents,  as  to  their  ability 
and  character  and  general  fitness  to  govern,  with 
the  successive  scions  of  any  dynasty  in  any  country. 
Now  this  matter  of  democracy  is  a  sacred  mat- 
ter. We  come  nearer  to  the  rule  of  God  and  the 
will  of  God  through  ascertaining  the  w^U  of  the 
people  and  trusting  the  rule  of  the  people  than 
in  any  other  way.  One  occasionally  hears  the 
strange  doctrine  advanced  that  neither  democracy 
nor  autocracy  has  divine  sanction,  that  the  true 
scriptural  method  of  government  is  a  theocracy. 
But  one  finds  that  most  of  those  who  stand  for  a 
rule  of  God  rather  than  a  rule  of  the  people,  mean 


DEMOCRACY  73 

in  practical  effect  the  putting  into  force  their  own 
personal  convictions  and  ideals. 

The  phrase,  vox  populi  vox  del,  may  be  but  a 
half  truth;  but  it  is  a  half  truth  at  least.  Cer- 
tainly we  never  hear  vox  dei  more  surely  than 
when  it  speaks  through  vox  populi.  A  real  de- 
mocracy would  be  the  best  expression  we  could  get 
of  the  rule  of  God  on  earth.  Democracy  and 
true  religion  are  vitally  connected;  each  is  essential 
to  the  other.  Democracy  thrives  best  when  there 
is  most  pure  Christianity.  Religion  flourishes 
best  when  democracy  is  purest,  when  there  is  the 
largest  measure  of  freedom,  equality,  and  fratern- 
ity, when  wealth  and  opportunity  and  power  are 
most  evenly  distributed. 

Christian  internationalism  must  be  profoundly 
interested  in  democracy,  for  the  Bible  is  a  demo- 
cratic book,  and  the  Gospel  is  of  one  fabric  with 
democracy.  The  Magnificat  is  a  great  hymn  of 
social  democracy.  Christ  is  the  founder  of  mod- 
ern democracy  as  truly  as  of  modern  religion. 
Greece  and  Rome  made  their  contributions  to  the 
growth  of  the  democratic  ideal;  but  the  Hebrew 
was  the  real  source  of  modern  democracy. 

In  the  stories  of  the  dim  and  shadowy  times  of 
early  Israel,  we  find  a  tale  of  great  interest,  deal- 
ing with  the  beginning  of  the  monarchy  in  Israel.^ 

1 1  Samuel  8. 


74     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

Why  was  it  that  the  prophet  objected  so  vehe- 
mently to  the  setting  up  of  a  monarchy?  Was  it 
the  desire  of  the  priest  to  retain  his  power  over 
the  people?  One  cannot  read  the  story  and  not 
catch  the  sense  of  a  dim  and  vague  conception  of 
the  rule  of  the  people,  hidden  in  the  prophet's 
vehement  desire  that  they  should  have  no  king  but 
Jehovah.  It  is  the  same  great  instinct  that  has 
led  a  modern  prophet  of  the  people  to  talk  of 
"  God  the  Invisible  King  "  as  the  hope  of  demo- 
cratic progress.  The  prophet  wanted  the  rule  of 
God,  as  made  clear  to  and  in  the  conscience  of  the 
average  man. 

All  through  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  people 
we  find  the  prophets  standing  for  popular  rights 
as  against  royal  prerogatives.  The  climax  of 
Elijah's  career  is  found  in  his  noble  and  indignant 
protest  against  the  seizure  of  Naboth's  vineyard. 
It  is  interesting  and  illuminating  to  note  that  the 
Israelitish  king  did  not  dream  of  forcible  violation 
of  the  rights  of  the  humble  citizen  until  his  wife 
brought  forward  the  plan.  She  had  the  back- 
ground of  the  other  nations  of  the  time,  where  the 
king  could  do  as  he  would.  Ahab  had  the  back- 
ground of  Hebrew  history,  and  felt  instinctively 
the  sacredness  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  In  the 
freedom  with  which  Nathan  talked  to  David,  and 
Ahijah  to  Solomon,  and  Isaiah  to  Ahaz,  and  Jere- 


DEMOCRACY  75 

mlah  to  Jeholakin,  we  find  recurring  proofs  of  the 
profound  sense  that  the  cause  of  the  people  is  the 
cause  of  God,  and  that  kings  must  bend  to  its 
righteous  demands. 

Even  more  is  the  New  Testament  the  source  of 
real  democracy.  The  beginning  of  modern  de- 
mocracy may  be  most  truly  found,  if  we  seek  one 
place  and  time  for  it,  when  Jesus  looked  into  the 
eyes  and  into  the  heart  of  common  men  and 
women,  and  said,  "  You,  just  as  you  are, —  not  the 
mighty,  but  plain  common  people  —  you  are  the 
children  of  God  and  the  heirs  of  the  grace  and 
glory  of  life."  Those  early  Christian  churches 
were  the  first  truly  democratic  communities  in  the 
world,  where  men  and  women,  regardless  of  dis- 
tinctions, met  on  equal  terms  and  voted  for  their 
officers.  The  synagogue  of  the  Jew,  the  church  of 
the  Christian,  the  town  meeting  of  the  Puritan, 
the  Congress  of  a  democratic  nation,  the  Soviets 
of  Russia,  these  are  phases  of  one  movement,  links 
in  one  chain  of  democratic  progress. 

The  great  watchwords  of  modern  democratic 
progress,  "  Freedom,  equality,  brotherhood," — 
these  were  watchwords  of  Christianity  long  before 
they  were  battle-cries  of  social  progress.  It  was 
Christ  Who  said,  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  shall  make  you  free,"  "  All  ye  are  breth- 
ren," "  as  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you, 


76    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

do  ye  even  so  to  them."     When  that  spirit  ^ame 
into  the  world,  democracy  came. 

Some  may  raise  the  objection,  some  have  raised 
it,  that  Christ  is  represented  in  the  New  Testament 
as  a  King,  and  His  rule  as  a  Kingdom;  that  the 
conception  of  Christianity  is  essentially  monar- 
chical. But  the  plain  and  sufficient  answer  is  that 
there  never  was  a  government  which  rested  more 
absolutely  on  the  consent  of  the  governed  than 
does  the  rule  of  Christ.  He  will  not  rule  over 
any  one  who  does  not  choose  Him  freely  as  Lord. 
The  vital  principle  of  democracy  that  "  govern- 
ments derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed "  is  fulfilled  In  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  as  nowhere  else. 

We  who  are  Protestants  often  overlook  the 
splendid  story  of  how  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 
stood  for  the  preservation  of  democracy  through 
the  dark  ages  when  barons  and  lords  and  kings 
held  all  political  power  in  their  hands.  While  the 
pernicious  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  certain 
families  was  growing  up  and  choking  the  seed  of 
democracy,  here  stood  a  mighty  organization, 
claiming  the  highest  authority,  exercising  vast 
power,  and  any  man,  whatever  his  social  rank,  or 
his  family  lineage,  or  the  amount  of  his  posses- 
sions, was  free  to  enter  the  church  and  to  mount 
as  high  In  its  ranks  as  his  abilities  would  carry 


DEMOCRACY  77 

him,  even  to  the  chair  founded  by  the  fisherman 
of  Galilee.  We  must  not  forget  that  splendid 
service  of  the  Catholic  Church  to  the  cause  of  the 
people. 

That  cause  of  the  people  is  holy,  is  Christian; 
it  is  the  cause  of  God,  of  man,  and  of  the  Godman, 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  nearest  and  best  fulfill- 
ment, in  political  and  social  life,  of  the  ideal  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  To  serve  it  is  to  be  a  com- 
rade of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  a  companion  of 
Christ  and  of  His  Kingdom. 

It  is  this  cause  of  democracy  which  is  involved 
in  the  present  conflict,  and  which  must  win  if  ever 
we  are  to  have  a  sure  and  safe  and  lasting  interna- 
tional order.  It  has  become  increasingly  clear, 
until  it  has  become  indubitable,  that  the  war  was 
brought  upon  the  world  by  an  autocratic  clique,  a 
group  of  men  who  held  the  power  the  people  ought 
always  to  wield  for  themselves.  Had  there  been 
in  Germany  even  such  a  measure  of  popular  over- 
sight and  control  of  the  government  as  obtains  in 
Italy  or  Belgium,  not  to  say  England  or  France, 
the  war  would  never  have  come  as  it  did. 

The  testimony  of  Prince  Lichnowsky  Is  conclu- 
sive as  to  the  guilt  of  the  rulers  of  Germany,  and 
as  to  the  secrecy  with  which  they  carried  out  their 
designs.  The  revelations  of  August  Thyssen  and 
others  have  shocked  the  world  with  the  realiza- 


78     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

tlon  of  the  vast  power  of  the  military  clique  In 
Germany,  and  the  reckless  and  Immoral  use  they 
made  of  it. 

There  never  was,  there  hardly  could  be,  a  sys- 
tem of  government  more  skillfully  devised  to  pro- 
vide for  the  absolute  rule  of  a  monarchical  clique, 
under  the  appearance  of  popular  procedure,  than 
the  German  system,  which  thrusts  forward  the 
Reichstag,  with  its  comparative  freedom  of  de- 
bate, and  conceals  the  power  of  the  Bundesrath, 
that  upper  house  in  which  fourteen  votes  are  suffi- 
cient to  block  any  legislation,  and  the  Kaiser  abso- 
lutely controls  twenty  votes.  There  Is  much  loose 
talk  to  the  effect  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  the  "  greatest  autocrat  in  the  world." 
Imagine  the  President  empowered  to  appoint  one- 
third  of  the  members  of  the  Senate,  and  to  direct 
them  as  to  their  voting,  when  one-fourth  of  Its 
membership  could  block  any  proposed  legislation! 
Talk  about  "  Presidential  autocracy  "  is  childish 
and  silly  in  the  face  of  such  comparisons. 

Frederick  the  Great  expressed  the  workings  of 
the  Prussian  system  in  his  cynical  remark,  "  I  and 
my  people  have  a  perfect  understanding  as  to  the 
conduct  of  affairs;  they  say  what  they  please,  and 
I  do  what  I  please."  Such  is  the  government 
which  must  be  changed  radically  If  the  world  Is 


DEMOCRACY  79 

ever  to  be  a  safe  place  for  democracy,  If  Christian 
internationalism  is  ever  to  be  achieved. 

Democracy  Is  the  word  which  unites  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  past  with  the  hopes  of  the  future.  It 
is  the  practical  political  expression  of  the  faith  of 
the  Bible;  it  Is  the  great  essential  condition  of  the 
hope  of  future  world-peace  and  world-order,  the 
absolute  condition  of  any  lasting  Internationalism. 

There  is  wonderful  significance  and  Inspiration 
in  that  scene  from  the  life  of  the  Master  in  which 
we  see  Him  led  by  the  tempter  to  the  top  of  a  high 
mountain,  whence  He  could  see  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them,  and  was  of- 
fered all  of  them  if  He  would  take  them  by  un- 
scrupulous means.     When  He  turned  away  from 
that  vision  and  went  down  to  walk  among  men  and 
win  them  by  appealing  to  their  sense  of  right  and 
justice  and  truth,  determined  to  have  no  authority 
which  did  not  rest  upon  their  free  choice  and  con- 
sent, He  was  setting  an  example  for  all  who  would 
govern  the  people  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God.     When  the  great  day  of  His  triumph  shall 
come,  and  "  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 
bow,"  It  will  be  the  triumph  of  true  democracy  no 
less  than  of  true  religion.     For  the  cause  of  man 
IS  the  cause  of  God,  and  "  freedom,  equality,  fra- 
ternity "  are  watchwords  of  Christians  no  less 


8o    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

than  of  liberals.  We  are  fighting,  as  our  Presi- 
dent has  said,  "  to  make  the  world  at  last  free." 
"  If  therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall 
be  free  indeed."  For  the  Christ  Who  is  in  every 
true  heart  of  man  is  indeed  King  of  Kings  and 
Lord  of  Lords;  and  all  kings  must  fall  down  be- 
fore Him,  all  nations  must  serve  Him. 

"  We  knelt  before  kings ;  we  bent  before  lords ; 
For  theirs  were  the  crowns,  and  theirs  were  the  swords: 
But  the  times  of  the  bending  and  bowing  are  past, 
And  the  Day  of  the  People  is  dawning  at  last. 

No  more  shall  the  kings,  for  their  glory  and  gain, 

Drive  the  masses  of  men  to  slay  and  be  slain ; 

For  the  folly  and  fury  of  warfare  shall  cease 

When  the  Day  of  the  People  brings  justice  and  peace. 

Great  Day  of  Jehovah!     Prophets  and  seers 
Have  sung  of  thy  coming,  these  thousands  of  years. 
On  the  wings  of  war's  whirlwind  God's  judgments  fly 

fast. 
And  the  Day  of  the  People  is  dawning  at  last." 


CHAPTER  VI 

AMERICA   AND   INTERNATIONALISM 

One  great  service  the  war  has  rendered  to  this 
country  Is  to  bring  America  to  a  full  and  vivid  con- 
sciousness of  her  real  meaning  and  place  and  duty 
in  the  world. 

We  have  been  amazed  and  mightily  heartened 
at  the  revelation  of  national  strength  and  unity 
that  has  come  through  the  experience  of  war. 
Many  faced  the  crisis  with  dread,  fearing  lest  the 
diverse  elements  of  which  our  national  life  was 
compounded  would  fly  apart,  revealing  the  weak- 
ness of  our  national  fabric.  But  It  has  stood,  firm 
and  strong  and  untorn.  There  Is  no  better  ex- 
ample of  national  unity  In  the  world  than  our  own 
country.  Especially  have  the  grave  and  natural 
fears  that  our  citizens  of  German  descent  might 
prove  disloyal  been  dispelled  with  the  advent  of 
war.  The  great  mass  of  Americans  of  German 
ancestry  are  thoroughly  loyal;  and  the  greatest 
honor  Is  due  them  for  that  firm  fidelity  to  the  coun- 
try of  their  choice  which  cost  them  the  sacrifice  of 
their  loyalty  to  the  country  from  which  they  had 

8i 


82     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

come.  There  Is  no  body  of  citizens  whom  we 
should  more  delight  to  honor  than  the  loyal  Amer- 
icans of  German  lineage. 

We  have  learned  much  also  as  to  the  defects 
and  weak  places  in  our  national  life.  There  has 
been  much  criticism  of  the  slowness  with  which 
our  War  Department  responded  to  the  need,  and 
of  the  mistakes  of  the  administration.  But  can- 
did critics  must  confess  that  our  worst  failure  has 
been  in  that  department  of  our  national  affairs  in 
which  we  were  surest  and  proudest  of  our  effi- 
ciency,—  our  industrial  and  commercial  life. 
The  breakdown  has  been  most  severe  and  most 
costly  in  transportation,  in  coordination  of  busi- 
ness, in  meeting  the  vast  needs  of  coal,  food,  and 
other  supplies.  On  the  v/hole  the  worst  failures 
have  been  made  not  by  poHtical  appointees,  but 
by  captains  of  industry.  Those  of  us  who  in- 
sisted, when  the  campaign  for  "  Preparedness  " 
was  at  its  height,  that  the  greatest  need  was  in- 
dustrial and  social  and  spiritual  preparedness, 
and  that  we  could  get  and  equip  an  army  with 
greater  ease  and  certainty  than  we  could  prepare 
the  nation  to  back  up  and  support  the  army,  feel 
that  our  warnings  have  been  justified. 

In  many  another  way  we  have  learned  truths 
about  our  country  which  we  needed  to  know.  But 
the  greatest  and  most  striking  effect  of  the  war 


AMERICA  83 

upon  the  national  consciousness  has  been  our  awak- 
ening to  such  a  sense  as  we  have  never  before 
known  of  our  right  relation  to  other  nations  and 
to  the  world,  of  America's  international  position 
and  responsibilities. 

We  recall  vividly  the  talk  of  "  Imperialism,'* 
and  of  America  as  a  "  World-Power,"  which 
marked  the  days  of  the  war  with  Spain,  twenty 
years  ago.  We  remember  the  ''  Anti-Imperial- 
ist "  crusade  of  those  days,  in  which  a  few  very 
earnest  and  thoughtful  people  made  a  disturbance 
quite  out  of  proportion  to  their  numbers.  That 
protest  against  Imperialism  was  right  in  motive; 
for  Imperialism  must  ever  be  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  and  constant  foes  of  a  real  democracy. 
But  it  was  quite  wrong  in  method  and  emphasis, 
in  Its  conviction  that  the  way  to  guard  America 
against  imperialism  was  to  keep  our  nation  small 
and  at  home  and  out  of  the  main  currents  of  the 
world's  life.  The  Impulse  which,  in  those  days, 
seized  the  heart  of  our  nation,  to  go  out  and  play 
a  worthy  part  in  the  common  political  life  of  the 
world,  was  a  worthy  Impulse;  to  gratify  it  was 
honorable;  to  reject  it  would  have  been  cowardly. 

This  war  has  brought  us  to  a  full  and  deep  sense 
of  our  world-responsibility.  It  is  hard  to  realize 
how  far  and  how  fast  we  have  moved  In  these 
four  years  of  wartime.     At  the  opening  of  the 


84     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

war  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America 
generally  viewed  it  as  a  quarrel  between  European 
nations.  We  thanked  God  that  it  was  not  our 
affair,  and  painfully  tried  to  preserve  a  thorough- 
going neutrality.  But  we  came  slowly  and  in- 
evitably to  see  that  it  is  a  struggle  exactly  in  line 
with  the  best  beliefs,  traditions,  and  ideals  of 
America,  and  that  participation  in  it  is  a  part  of 
our  honorable  destiny. 

We  can  never  be  too  thankful  for  the  leader  we 
have  had,  a  man  Intelligent  beyond  most  as  to  the 
past  history  and  present  ideals  of  America,  a  man 
with  a  tendency  to  err  on  the  side  of  patience  and 
delay  rather  than  on  that  of  rashness,  a  mediator 
who  at  last  led  us  all  to  where  we  saw  the  conflict 
from  a  great  moral  height,  and  moved  into  it 
unitedly  and  with  gathering  power.  We  easily 
forget  how  unready  our  nation  was  for  action  In 
world  affairs  In  August,  19 14.  The  more  facile 
minds,  those  better  Informed  as  to  world  politics, 
have  moved  so  quickly  that  they  forget  where  they 
stood  and  what  they  judged  In  the  summer  of  four 
years  ago.  Certainly  no  leader  of  any  prom- 
inence urged  that  we  should  go  to  war  over  the 
invasion  of  Belgium.  Nothing  that  Mr.  Roose- 
velt can  say  to-day  avails  to  alter  his  article  in  the 
Outlook  In  September,  19 14,  disclaiming  Ameri- 
can responsibility  in  the  matter.     The   Monroe 


AMERICA  85 

Doctrine,  the  most  sacred  article  In  our  political 
creed,  seemed  to  us  to  forbid  our  Interference  In 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  even  as  it  forbade  Europe's 
intermeddling  with  affairs  on  this  hemisphere. 
One  may  doubt  If  any  leadership  less  watchful, 
patient,  and  high-minded  than  that  of  President 
Wilson  would  have  availed  to  loose  us  from  our 
traditional  moorings  and  send  us  on  paths  so  new 
and  strange,  with  substantial  unity  of  soul. 

But  now  we  see,  with  crystal  vision,  that  our 
participation  In  this  war  Is  a  natural  step  forward 
for  America. 

Some  one  has  pointed  out  the  fact  that  our  entry 
Into  the  war  is  In  reality  the  latest  of  four  great 
steps  forward  in  the  outworking  of  our  democratic 
destiny. 

The  first  step  was  taken  In  1776  when  our 
fathers  adopted  their  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. There  they  laid  down  certain  principles, 
such  as  resistance  to  tyranny,  the  absolute  depend- 
ence of  governments  upon  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned, the  existence  of  certain  Inalienable  human 
rights,  the  obligation  on  the  part  of  groups  of 
men  to  show  "  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinion  of 
mankind," —  principles  which  they  declared  worth 
dying  for,  as  without  them  life  would  not  be  worth 
living.  It  was  as  If  they  put  a  fence  about  this 
little  strip  of  territory  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 


86     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

and  said,  "  Henceforth  liberty  and  democracy  shall 
live  here  unmolested.  These  great  principles 
which  underlie  and  condition  happy  and  just  hu- 
man living  shall  have  the  right  of  way  here  among 
these  thirteen  colonies." 

The  second  step  was  taken  when  President 
James  Monroe  replied  to  the  threat  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  with  the  defiant  declaration  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine.  The  sign  forbidding  trespassing 
was  placed  all  about  this  Western  Hemisphere. 
The  area  within  which  freedom  and  democracy 
should  have  unmolested  rights  was  thus  extended 
to  one-half  the  world. 

The  third  great  forward  step  was  taken  with 
the  winning  of  our  Civil  War.     Here  two  great 
Issues  were  involved;  could  a  democratic  and  free 
government,  resting  upon  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned, hold  when  a  supreme  strain  came,  and  en- 
force Its  rights  against  rebellious  elements  within 
It?     And  could  a  theory  and  practice  which  nulli- 
fied the  freedom  we  professed  be  put  down  and 
brought  to  an  end?     The  outcome  has  received 
Immortal  statement  In  the  Gettysburg  Address: 
''  Whether  any  government  so  conceived  and  dedi- 
cated can  long  endure."      "  That  government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth." 

The  fourth  step  is  our  entrance  Into  the  present 


AMERICA  87 

world-war,  the  accepted  statement  of  our  aim  be- 
ing the  oft-quoted  phrase,  "  to  make  the  world 
safe  for  democracy."  What  our  fathers  did  for 
the  thirteen  colonies,  what  America,  backed  by 
Britain,  did  for  the  Western  world,  what  our 
great  Civil  War  emphasized  and  Insured,  must  be 
done  for  all  men  everywhere ;  their  right  to  a  free 
and  just  life  must  be  enforced.  The  relation  of 
the  present  conflict  to  America's  great  heritage 
could  not  be  better  stated  than  In  the  words  of  the 
President  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  July  4,  1918  : 

"  A  great  promise  that  was  meant  for  all  man- 
kind, was  here  given  place  and  reality.  It  Is 
significant  that  Washington  and  his  associates 
spoke  and  acted  not  for  a  class,  but  for  a  people. 
It  has  been  left  for  us  to  see  to  it  that  it  shall  be 
understood  that  they  spoke  and  acted,  not  for  a 
single  people  only,  but  for  all  mankind.  We  here 
in  America  believe  our  participation  in  this  present 
war  to  be  only  the  fruitage  of  what  they  planted. 
We  are  happy  in  the  thought  that  we  are  permitted 
to  do  what  they  would  have  done  had  they  been  in 
our  place.  There  must  now  be  settled,  once  for 
all,  what  was  settled  for  America  In  the  great  age 
upon  whose  inspiration  we  draw  to-day.  Here 
were  started  forces  which  the  great  nation  against 
which  they  were  primarily  directed  at  first  re- 
garded as  a  revolt  against  its  rightful  authority, 


88     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

but  which  it  has  long  since  seen  to  have  been  a 
step  in  the  liberation  of  its  own  people  as  well  as 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States;  and  I  stand 
here  now  to  speak  —  speak  proudly  and  with 
confident  hope  —  of  the  spread  of  this  revolt,  this 
liberation,  to  the  great  stage  of  the  world  itself! 
The  blinded  rulers  of  Prussia  have  roused  forces 
they  knew  little  of, —  forces  which,  once  roused, 
can  never  be  crushed  to  earth  again;  for  they  have 
at  their  heart  an  inspiration  and  a  purpose  which 
are  deathless,  and  of  the  very  stuff  of  triumph." 

We  are  seeing  clearly  at  last  that  America  Is, 
by  birth  and  by  nature,  committed  to  a  sane  and 
thorough  internationalism.  What  is  x'\merica  but 
an  experiment,  a  successful  experiment,  in  inter- 
national order?  Our  very  flag  sets  forth  the  in- 
ternational character  of  our  national  life  and 
ideal.  It  speaks  of  the  possibility  of  indefinite 
growth  through  the  federation  principle.  There 
stand  the  thirteen  stripes,  showing  that  from  which 
we  have  grown,  and  the  forty-eight  stars,  showing 
that  to  which  we  have  grown,  a  harmonious  and 
natural  growth,  though  not  lacking  its  anxious  pe- 
riods, its  crises,  its  mighty  conflicts. 

Some  years  ago  a  German  lecturer  was  speaking 
of  national  emblems,  and  remarked,  "  The  United 
States  of  America  has  no  flag."  An  American 
present  challenged  the  statement  with  the  question, 


AMERICA  89 

"  What  about  the  Stars  and  Stripes?  "  The  Ger- 
man answered,  "  That  Is  not  a  flag;  it  Is  a  statis- 
tic." 

A  statistic  it  may  be;  but  of  the  growth  of  de- 
mocracy. And  we  know  it  to  be  even  more  a 
prophecy  of  the  future  expansion  of  world-democ- 
racy and  world-federation. 

The  flag  speaks  also  of  success  In  safe-guarding 
tne  rights  of  small  states.  Each  state  In  the  union 
nas  its  star,  and  the  stars  do  not  differ  In  glory, 
it  speaks  to  us  of  a  unity  that  is  not  uniformity,  of 
a  national  life  as  vivid  in  its  contrasts  as  are  the 
red,  white  and  blue  colors,  yet  as  rich  and  wonder- 
ful a  unity  as  is  the  flag.  And  who  can  look 
upon  the  stars  in  the  blue  field,  noblest  emblem 
ever  taken  by  any  nation,  no  beast  or  bird  or  crown 
or  weapon,  but  a  bit  of  God's  sky  —  and  not  see 
there  a  reminder  that  earth  shall  come  to  peace 
and  righteousness  and  joy  when  the  nations  move 
in  harmony  as  the  stars  move  in  their  orbits,  and 
the  will  of  God  Is  "  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
the  heavens  "? 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  only  real  and 
serious  Issue  between  America  and  Germany  in  the 
present  war  has  been  the  issue  of  internationalism. 
Other  issues  lie  between  Germany  and  France,  be- 
tween Germany  and  Britain,  between  Austria  and 
Italy,  between  Germany  and  Russia.     But  this  is 


90    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISiM 

the  only  issue  between  Germany  and  America. 
All  we  seek  from  the  war  is  an  international  order 
of  justice,  goodwill,  and  lasting  peace.  We  are  in 
the  war  because  America  believes  in  such  an  order, 
and  Germany  does  not;  because  we  always  have 
believed  m  it,  and  she  never  has.  The  record  is 
clear.  Every  time  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
limit  armaments,  to  restrict  the  savagery  of  war, 
to  bring  about  some  larger  measure  of  interna- 
tional order,  at  Hague  Conferences  and  the  like, 
America  has  gone  to  the  extreme  of  willingness 
and  eagerness;  and  almost  every  time  the  effort 
has  failed  of  its  aim  because  Germany  refused  to 
advance,  or  to  modify  in  any  respect  her  theories 
or  practices.  Throughout  her  history  America 
has,  on  the  whole,  respected  international  law  and 
agreement,  and  Germany  has  not.  America  has 
pushed  international  treaties  of  arbitration,  now 
having  them  between  herself  and  twenty-nine  other 
nations;  Germany  has  scorned  them.  We  need 
not,  and  must  not,  claim  a  guiltless  record.  We 
are  not  wholly  proud  of  our  Mexican  War,  nor  of 
all  our  dealings  with  Oriental  nations,  nor  of  the 
way  we  got  the  canal  at  Panama.  But  on  the 
whole  we  have  stood  before  the  world  a  nation 
that  obviously  wanted  to  live  with  other  nations 
as  a  Christian  gentleman  wants  to  live  with  his 
neighbors;  we  have  stood  for  the  principles  on 


AMERICA  91 

which  the  peace  of  the  world  would  justly  and  se- 
curely rest.  We  went  into  Cuba,  declaring  that 
we  would  come  out.  Few  among  the  nations  be- 
lieved we  would  keep  our  word;  but  we  did.  We 
took  the  Philippines  from  Spain,  but  we  paid  the 
defeated  nation  $20,000,000.  How  many  other 
cases  are  there  in  history  where  the  conqueror  paid 
an  indemnity  to  the  conquered?  And  we  have  so 
far  administered  the  Philippines  in  the  interests  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  not  for  the  advantage  of  the 
United  States.  We  paid  back  to  China  one-half 
the  indemnity  asked  after  the  Boxer  Rebellion. 
We  stood  for  the  righteous  principle  of  the  "  Open 
Door  "  in  China,  when  no  other  nation  would  take 
that  stand.  The  course  of  the  present  administra- 
tion in  Mexico  may  have  been  marred  by  blunders ; 
at  least  it  has  been  marked  by  extreme  patience 
and  reluctance  to  threaten  or  dominate.  As  has 
been  wittily  said,  "  Our  course  in  Mexico  may 
have  been  a  mess;  but,  thank  God,  It  has  not 
been  a  mess  of  pottage.  "  Our  very  reluctance 
to  enter  this  war  Is  proof  that  we  have  "  the  In- 
ternational mind,"  that  will  not  break  the  peace 
until  compelled  by  irresistible  demands  of  con- 
science. 

Set  America's  dealings  with  Cuba  and  Mexico 
over  against  Austria's  dealings  with  Serbia;  set 
America's  dealings  with  Spain  over  against  Ger- 


92     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

many's  dealings  with  France  In  1871;  set  Amer- 
ica's handling  of  the  Philippines  over  against  Ger- 
many's handling  of  Alsace,  or  Poland,  or  her  Af- 
rican colonies;  set  America's  conduct  in  China  over 
against  Germany's  seizure  of  Kiao-Chau,  her 
"  punitive  expedition  "  under  Count  von  Walder- 
see,  her  spirit  as  revealed  In  the  Kaiser's  speech 
to  the  troops  as  they  started  for  China;  could  two 
nations  be  further  apart  in  their  sense  of  interna- 
tional justice  and  goodwill  and  order? 

And  our  President  has  expressed  the  heart-de- 
sire of  America  as  a  whole  when  he  declares  that 
we  are  in  this  war  in  order  that  out  of  it  may  come 
a  "  League  of  Free  Nations,"  pledged  to  keep  the 
peace  by  administering  justice.  We  would  be 
false  to  our  best  heritage  of  action  and  ideal  if  we 
fought  for  any  less  an  end. 

There  are  two  warnings  we  should  take  to  heart 
with  utmost  seriousness. 

One  of  them  is  that  we  must  face  our  special 
problems  In  a  spirit  broadly  fair  and  International. 
We  must  shape  our  relations  with  Mexico,  with 
Latin  America,  with  China  and  Japan,  In  a  spirit 
of  true  and  full  Christian  internationalism,  seeking 
no  selfish  advantage,  determined  to  do  as  we  would 
be  done  by,  asking  not  what  we  have  the  power  to 
do,  nor  what  is  to  our  Interest  to  do,  nor  even  what 
we  have  the  right  to  do,  but  what  our  International 


AMERICA  93 

duty  may  be,  how  we  may  best  insure  justice  and 
goodwill  in  increasing  measure  throughout  our  re- 
lations with  these  nations  that  touch  us  most 
nearly,  and  that  watch  us  with  that  jealous  care  in- 
evitable when  one  knows  that  another  is  stronger 
than  himself  and  is  not  quite  sure  that  he  is  just 
and  generous.  We  must  fear  to  inflict  injury  even 
more  than  to  suffer  it;  we  must  covet  the  respect 
paid  to  just  and  generous  character  even  more 
than  the  respect  yielded  to  obvious  power;  we  must 
be,  in  all  our  relations,  conspicuous  for  that  Chris- 
tian internationalism  for  which  we  have  fought 
against  Germany. 

The  second  warning  is  that  we  citizens  of  Amer- 
ica must  look  forward  and  not  back.  We  have  set 
our  hand  to  the  plow.  To  look  back  is  to  prove 
ourselves  unfit  for  the  Kingdom.  To  fail  to  go  to 
the  end  of  the  furrow  is  to  be  unworthy  of  our  past 
heritage  and  of  our  present  position.  There  is 
danger  that,  when  the  war  is  over,  we  shall  be  con- 
tent to  lapse  into  our  isolation  again,  shall  make  a 
fetich  of  Washington's  warning  against  ''  entan- 
ghng  alliances,"  shall  be  content  to  make  America 
great  and  forget  to  make  America  the  great  serv- 
ant of  mankind.  We  must  see  that  our  entrance 
into  this  war  is  not  a  mere  crusade,  but  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  life,  of  world-wide  responsibility,  of 
unrestricted  fellowship  with  all  men  and  all  na- 


94     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

tlons.  Historians  tell  us  that  the  turning-point  of 
the  Revolutionary  struggle  was  the  battle  of 
Kings'  Mountain,  where  the  farmers  and  back- 
woodsmen of  the  Carollnas  gathered  and  defeated 
the  British  army  which  was  threatening  the  regu- 
lar American  forces.  But  after  that  battle,  the 
men  who  had  won  It  went  home  again,  leaving 
Washington  and  his  men  to  fight  the  rest  of  the 
war  unaided.  Our  participation  In  this  war  must 
be  no  Kings'  Mountain  affair,  turning-point  of  the 
war  though  it  may  be,  after  which  we  shall  come 
home  and  let  the  world  go  on  as  It  will,  without 
care  on  our  part.  It  must  be  rather  the  beginning 
of  the  deep  devotion  of  all  we  are  here  in  America 
to  the  good  of  the  whole  world.  Our  motto  may 
well  be  the  great  words,  ''  America  asks  nothing 
for  herself  that  she  does  not  claim  for  all  man- 
kind." We  are  in  the  war  for  no  local  issue,  but 
for  the  great  cause  of  a  free,  ordered,  righteous 
internationalism.  And  we  say,  as  Lincoln  said  in 
1863,  "  We  accepted  this  war;  we  did  not  begin  it. 
We  accepted  It  for  a  purpose,  and  when  that  pur- 
pose is  achieved,  the  war  will  end.  And  I  pray 
God  It  may  never  end  until  that  purpose  is 
achieved." 


CHAPTER  VII 

CONSTRUCTIVE    PROPOSALS    FOR   AN    INTERNA- 
TIONAL  ORDER 

In  Kant's  classic  pamphlet,  "  Zum  Evigen 
Frieden,"  he  notes  clearly  three  essential  condi- 
tions of  enduring  peace.  One  of  them  Is  the  pro- 
vision of  adequate  legal  machinery  whereby  ju- 
dicial process  may  readily  take  the  place  of  war. 

There  is  no  hope  of  lasting  peace  until  such  an 
international  order  is  established.  Nations  will 
not  cease  from  war  until  a  better  way  of  securing 
their  rights  Is  made  clear  and  safe  for  them.  The 
weakness  of  international  law  up  to  the  present 
time  has  been  In  the  fact  that  there  was  no  force 
back  of  It;  It  rested  only  upon  the  mutual  consent 
of  the  nations,  and  the  international  order  secured 
by  it  was  ever  at  the  mercy  of  any  unscrupulous 
power.  Suppose  our  common,  civil  law  were 
formulated  only  as  men  cared  to  enter  Into  agree- 
ments and  contracts  with  reference  to  specific  mat- 
ters, and  were  left  unenforced  save  by  the  honor 
or  interest  of  the  individual.  Society  would  be  In 
a  state  which  no  one  but  an  anarchist  would  count 

95 


96     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

desirable,  and  which  even  the  anarchist  would  find 
intolerable,  were  the  theory  put  Into  practice.  Yet 
such  Is  the  actual  condition  of  the  relations  be- 
tween states. 

The  serious  problem  confronting  the  world  just 
now  Is  well  stated  In  a  paragraph  from  "  The  War 
and  Democracy  "  ^ ; — "  Can  Inter-State  Law, 
hitherto  a  mere  shadow  of  the  majestic  name  It 
bears,  almost  a  matter  of  convention  and  etiquette, 
with  no  permanent  tribunal  to  Interpret  it,  and  no 
government  to  enforce  It,  be  enthroned  with  the 
necessary  powers  to  maintain  justice  between  the 
peoples  and  governments  of  the  world?  " 

That  is  altogether  the  biggest  question  affecting 
the  future  of  the  human  race  just  now.  Upon  the 
faith  or  the  unbelief,  the  courage  or  the  faint- 
heartedness, In  which  we  deal  with  It  will  depend 
the  welfare  of  the  race  for  all  the  generations  to 
come. 

It  Is  not  strange  then  that  strong  and  resolute 
minds  are  attempting  to  deal  with  this  problem 
constructively,  and  daring  to  put  forth  programs 
more  or  less  detailed.  The  wisest  among  them 
does  not  dare  to  assert  that  he  has  found  the  per- 
fect solution  of  the  problem,  or  even  that  the  solu- 
tion he  proposes  is  practicable.     But  he  does  not 

1  "  The  War  and  Democracy,"  by  Alfred  E.  Zimmern,  page 
374- 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS        97 

hesitate  to  put  forward  his  constructive  suggestion, 
that  out  of  the  clash  of  many  minds  light  may 
come  as  to  the  best  and  most  workable  program. 

Mankind  has  ever  been  haunted  by  dreams  of 
universal  peace,  of  International  justice  and  good- 
will, of  a  day  when  war  should  have  faded  like  a 
night-mare,  and  men  should  live  in  freedom  and 
comfort. 

A  certain  measure  of  internationalism  there  has 
always  been,  for  no  state  can  quite  live  to  itself. 
Alliances  have  been  sought,  states  have  formed 
groups;  but  always  for  specific  occasions  and  ends, 
usually  for  defense  or  offense  In  war.  There  are 
In  Greek  history  germs  of  the  International  idea, 
certain  Leagues  of  Cities  which  had  as  one  great 
end  of  their  existence  the  preservation  of  peace,  or 
the  enforcement  of  certain  principles  of  public 
right.  The  most  celebrated  of  these  was  the  Am- 
phictyonic  Council,  to  maintain  the  general  inter- 
ests of  Greece,  and  particularly  to  defend  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  common  shrine  at  Delphi.  One  of  the 
most  Interesting  chapters  In  ancient  history  Is  the 
story  of  how  the  other  states  of  Greece  united  to 
punish  Athens  for  her  violation  of  the  sanctity  of 
the  shrine  which  all  had  united  to  guarantee. 

The  Hebrew,  most  farseeing  and  deep-seeing  of 
all  the  ancient  races,  had  dreams  and  visions  of  a 
wider  and  nobler  sort.     He  saw  the  problem  of 


98     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

war  and  peace  solved  by  the  setting  of  law  In  place 
of  war.  His  dream  was  often  confused  and 
tainted  with  what  we  may  call  a  Hebrew  imperial- 
ism, a  conviction  that  the  world  would  never  be 
right  and  safe  until  his  own  race  was  set  securely 
as  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  the  world,  the  Mes- 
sianic King  of  Israel  ruling  over  all  nations  with  a 
rod  of  iron.  But  always  down  at  the  heart  of  his 
dreams  and  visions  of  future  righteousness  and 
peace  was  the  sound  kernel  of  thought  that  right- 
eousness, expressed  in  law,  and  enforced  by  God's 
agents,  would  solve  the  problem  and  bring  lasting 
peace  to  mankind. 

A  great  vision  meets  us  in  the  writings  of  two 
of  the  earliest  prophets,  Isaiah  and  Micah.  Its 
appearance  in  each  of  these  books  may  indicate  not 
that  either  borrowed  it  from  the  other,  but  that 
both  of  them  caught  it  up  from  some  earlier 
source.  Perhaps  it  was  a  popular  song  which 
they  seized  and  made  lasting.  It  shows  us  the 
nations  beating  their  weapons  of  war  into  imple- 
ments of  agriculture,  not  needing  war,  nor  learn- 
ing it,  any  more;  because  law  has  taken  the  place 
of  war,  law  going  forth  from  the  throne  of  God  in 
Jerusalem,  and  establishing  and  maintaining  jus- 
tice and  peace  throughout  the  world. ^ 

Far  more  significant  is  the  great  passage  which 

1  Isaiah  2:1-5.    Micah  4:1-5. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS        99 

deals  with  the  International  mission  of  the  Servant 
of  the  Lord,  found  In  the  42nd  Chapter  of  the 
Book  of  Isaiah.  We  need  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  the  hero  of  Israel  Is  here  shown  not  as  a  King 
or  War-Lord,  but  as  a  Servant,  servant  of  God 
and  servant  of  humanity.  He  Is  to  "  send  forth 
judgment  unto  victory."  He  Is  to  be  very  tender 
of  little  groups  and  tiny  Influences  and  small  be- 
ginnings: "  The  bruised  reed  will  he  not  break, 
and  the  dimly-burning  wick  will  he  not  quench." 
But  equally  plain  and  sure  Is  his  Indomltableness. 
"  He  shall  not  himself  be  bruised  or  burn  dimly 
till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth."  That 
word  "  judgment,"  ''  mishpat,"  Is  a  word  of  great 
significance.  It  means  justice  both  in  spirit  and 
in  form,  justice  as  an  abstract  principle,  and  jus- 
tice as  an  enforced  program.  It  is  a  magnificent 
prophecy,  this  of  the  Servant  of  God  securing 
peace  and  joy  for  humanity  through  establishing 
an  International  order  whereby  justice  may  be  ad- 
ministered and  peace  thus  may  be  kept  on  firm 
foundations. 

But  for  many  centuries  men  have  been  under 
the  glamour  of  the  rule  of  Rome.  Imperialism 
has  seemed  to  thefn  the  only  possible  interna- 
tional order.  Church  and  state  have  united  to 
foster  that  idea.  No  one  who  is  Intelligent 
about  the  history  of  Europe  can  doubt  the  Im- 


100     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

mense  Influence  which  the  Imperial  tradition 
has  had  on  the  development  of  Prussia  and 
Austria.  Hapsburg  and  Hohenzollern  count 
themselves  heirs  of  Rome  through  Charlemagne 
and  the  Germanic  emperors.  Napoleon  felt 
himself  in  spirit  and  destiny  the  successor  of 
the  Roman  Imperators,  who  made  the  world 
one  by  subjugation.  The  British  have  talked 
much  of  the  "empire";  the  Imperialist  has 
held  sway  often  in  their  councils.  One  of  the 
most  wholesome  reactions  of  the  war  upon  cur- 
rent political  life  Is  the  growing  strength  and  out- 
spokenness of  the  dislike  for  the  term  "  empire," 
on  the  part  of  colonials,  and  of  many  English  and 
Scotch,  and  of  the  desire  for  some  better  name, 
such  as  "  commonwealth,"  to  be  the  proper  desig- 
nation of  such  a  union  of  democratic  states  as  that 
commonly  known  as  the  British  Empire.  There 
Is  too  much  of  the  flavor  of  military  autocracy 
about  the  words  "  empire  "  and  "  Imperial." 

Overshadowed  by  this  imperial  idea  of  world- 
unity,  the  minds  of  men  lost  the  true  sense  of  an 
international  order  firm  yet  free.  But  as  the  dem- 
ocratic impulse  quickened  to  new  life  during  the 
19th  century,  as  the  minds  of  men  were  set  free 
more  and  more  from  age-long  obsessions,  again 
they  began  to  dream  of  world-peace  secured  by 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      loi 

world-order;  and  Increasingly  the  dreams  took 
shape  In  the  suggestion  of  a  League  of  Nations  to 
enforce  peace. 

It  was  just  about  at  the  time  that  Kant  published 
his  great  little  tract  on  "  Enduring  Peace,"  that 
Thomas  Paine  seriously  proposed  that  England, 
France,  and  the  United  States  should  form  a  per- 
manent alliance  In  order  to  the  preservation  of  the 
peace  of  the  world.  Some  years  later,  at  the  close 
of  the  Napoleonic  era  Castlereagh  went  to  the 
Council  of  Vienna  resolved  to  attempt  the  forma- 
tion of  a  league  of  nations  to  preserve  the  peace. 
The  scheme  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  autocrats, 
and  became  distorted  into  the  monstrosity  known 
as  the  Holy  Alliance,  a  league  of  kings  against  the 
people.  In  19 13,  shortly  before  his  assassination, 
Jaures,  attempting  to  forestall  the  storm  of  war 
which  he  dimly  foresaw,  proposed  a  league  to  be 
composed  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  Germany, 
pledged  to  maintain  the  peace  of  Europe. 

The  close  of  the  19th  century  and  the  opening 
of  the  20th  were  marked  by  great  growth  of  the 
idea  of  a  league  of  nations  to  preserve  peace. 
The  first  concrete  proposition  to  that  effect  seems 
to  have  been  made  by  Andrew  Carnegie  In  his  rec- 
torial address  at  St.  Andrew's,  in  which  he  urged 
that,  as  nations  have  joined  in  alliances  for  pur- 


102     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

poses  of  war,  so  they  should  join  in  an  alliance  to 
preserve  the  peace,  to  guarantee  it  jointly.  Great 
public  interest  was  aroused,  and  a  mighty  impetus 
given  to  the  movement,  by  the  Nobel  Prize  address 
which  Theodore  Roosevelt  delivered  at  Christi- 
ania.  May  5,  19 10,  in  which  he  urged  the  practica- 
bility and  necessity  of  such  a  league  in  which  na- 
tions should  join,  pledged  jointly  to  keep  the  peace 
among  themselves  and  to  prevent  the  breach  of  it 
by  others.  It  is  extraordinary  that  Mr.  Roose- 
velt Is  now  one  of  the  very  few  leaders  of  Ameri- 
can thought  and  action  who  speak  slightingly  of 
the  idea  of  a  league  of  nations,  or  "  damn  it  with 
faint  praise,"  having  suffered  a  violent  reaction  to 
that  nationalistic  temper  which  he  rightly  saw,  In 
the  less  passionate  times  of  eight  years  ago,  to  be 
one  of  the  chief  dangers  of  the  world's  life.  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  reaction  from  a  sane  internationalism 
to  a  violent  nationalism,  and  from  ardent  progres- 
sive ideals  to  marked  conservative  tendencies  Is 
one  of  the  strangest  and  most  deplorable  instances 
of  deterioration  and  lost  leadership  to  be  found  In 
American  political  life,  comparable  to  the  moral 
weakening  of  Daniel  Webster  which  led  Whittler 
to  write  his  lament  "  Ichabod,"  or  the  hardening 
of  Wordsworth's  mind  and  heart  which  made 
Browning  break  forth  in  the  passionate  protest  of 
*'  The  Lost  Leader." 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      103 

The  two  conferences  at  The  Hague  furthered 
the  Idea  of  international  order.  Called  originally 
to  discuss  the  matter  of  possible  reduction  of  ar- 
mament, these  conferences  came  quickly  to  the 
matter  of  the  establishment  of  courts  of  arbitral 
justice,  and  some  form  of  world-organization. 
For  it  was  clearly  seen,  so  soon  as  men  gave  real 
thought  to  the  matter,  that  war  could  not  be  gotten 
rid  of  by  direct  attack,  but  only  by  providing  a 
reasonable  and  practicable  substitute  for  its  cruel 
and  crude,  wasteful  and  unjust,  method  of  settling 
disputes  between  states.  Disarmament  must  al- 
ways wait  on  the  prior  establishment  of  firm  and 
trustworthy  means  of  administering  international 
justice  and  law. 

The  Hague  Conferences  closed  with  but  little 
result,  on  account  of  three  causes;  the  mutual  jeal- 
ousies of  great  powers;  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
satisfying  place  in  an  international  order  for  the 
small  states;  and  the  steadfast  opposition  of  Ger- 
many to  any  practical  suggestions  looking  toward 
disarmament,  or  international  organization. 

But,  under  the  stress  of  war  conditions,  a  vast 
Impetus  has  been  given  to  the  thinking  of  men 
about  International  problems.  They  have  come 
to  see  clearly  that  some  sort  of  world-unity  Is  es- 
sential to  a  free  and  wholesome  life  for  humanity; 
and  that  only  three  ways  to  the  achievement  of 


I04    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

such  unity  can  be  discerned,  the  way  of  Imperial- 
ism, the  way  of  the  Balance  of  Power,  and  the  way 
of  a  real  Federative  Internationalism. 

There  is  general  realization  of  the  fact  that  Im- 
perialism, even  if  any  one  nation  could  achieve 
it,  would  be  an  unspeakable  calamity  to  the  race. 
The  best  men  in  France,  England,  and  America 
would  rather  see  their  nations  perish  utterly  in 
blood  and  fire  than  hve  under  the  imperial  rule 
of  Prussia.  It  is  quite  certain  that  there  are  many 
in  Germany  itself, —  more  perhaps  than  any  of  us 
believe, —  who  see  the  dangers  of  imperialism 
clearly,  and  oppose  it  vigorously. 

Under  the  clear  and  forceful  reasoning  of  Pres- 
ident Wilson,  and  under  the  greater  power  of  the 
facts  of  the  time,  we  are  coming  to  see  with  in- 
creasing clarity  that  the  preservation  of  peace  and 
order  by  the  play  of  the  Balance  of  Power  is 
no  longer  possible  or  desirable.  Great  Britain 
played  that  game  for  many  years  with  great  skill, 
and,  on  the  whole,  with  pacific  and  disinterested 
motives.  But  the  Balance  of  Power  will  not  se- 
cure justice  and  peace  in  the  new  era  of  which  this 
war  marks  the  beginning. 

Clearly  the  time  has  come  for  a  new  interna- 
tional order,  for  the  last  and  greatest  step  in  the 
organization  of  human  life,  which  has  proceeded 
from  the  family  to  the  clan,  the  city,  the  state;  and 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      105 

now  must  go  on  to  some  sort  of  organization  of 
the  world  of  mankind.  Aristotle  said  that  there 
could  not  be  a  free  state  with  more  than  100,000 
inhabitants.  But  the  discovery  of  the  two  princi- 
ples of  representative  government  and  of  federa- 
tion have  made  possible  the  development  of  vast 
political  organizations  of  human  life,  of  which  the 
most  impressive  illustrations  are  Switzerland,  the 
United  States  of  America,  and,  most  striking  of 
all,  the  British  Empire. 

The  war  itself  has  set  before  the  eyes  of  men 
an  amazing  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of  in- 
ternational cooperation  in  the  actual  working  force 
of  the  British  Commonwealth.  We  see,  not  in 
theory,  but  in  concrete  demonstration  under  cru- 
cial conditions,  the  working  of  a  higher  patriotism, 
a  loftier  and  more  inclusive  loyalty,  of  exactly  the 
sort  that  is  needed  to  make  any  international  or- 
der firm  and  successful.  Australians,  New  Zea- 
landers,  Canadians,  South  Africans,  each  group 
dominated  by  a  strong  local  patriotism,  each  sep- 
arate colony  or  dominion  a  self-governing  entity, 
have  been  revealed  as  organized  into  a  common- 
wealth which  holds  when  the  strain  comes.  Here 
is  a  state,  an  international  order,  which  embraces 
one-quarter  of  the  human  race;  and,  as  has  been 
well  said,  "  These  men  and  nations  have  come 
from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  preserve  a  union 


io6     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

of  democracies.  They  have  shown  by  example 
what  any  World  League  most  needs  to  know,  that 
federalism  on  a  grand  scale  is  not  an  idle  dream." 

Out  of  the  thinking  of  many  men,  under  the 
stress  of  war,  have  come  definite  proposals  for  an 
International  Order,  a  League  of  Nations,  con- 
structive proposals  to  which  the  leading  statesmen 
of  the  world  have  given  their  strong  support  and 
loyalty.  The  most  concrete,  and  in  many  ways 
the  most  promising,  scheme  yet  set  forth  is  that  of 
the  League  to  Enforce  Peace,  organized  in  Phila- 
delphia in  the  spring  of  19 15. 

Its  program  embraces  four  propositions: 

1.  That  all  justiciable  questions  arising  between 
the  nations  composing  the  league  (i.e.  all  questions 
susceptible  of  solution  on  a  basis  of  actual  fact 
or  of  clearly  recognized  International  law)  shall 
be  submitted  to  a  permanent  Court  of  Justice. 

2.  That  all  non-justiciable  questions  shall  be 
laid  before  special  Councils  of  Conciliation  or  Ar- 
bitration. 

The  nations  forming  the  league  agree  not  to 
proceed  to  hostilities  in  any  case  until  the  dispute 
shall  have  been  submitted  In  one  of  these  ways, 
and  the  judgment  of  the  body  to  which  It  has  been 
referred  shall  have  been  announced,  allowing  a 
reasonably  restricted  time  for  the  rendering  of  the 
judgment  of  the  court. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      107 

3.  The  nations  composing  the  League  agree  to 
use  jointly  their  forces,  economic  and  military, 
against  any  member  of  the  League  which  shall  be- 
gin hostilities  without  first  submitting  the  case  for 
judgment. 

4.  Steps  are  to  be  taken  to  provide  means  for 
the  codification,  formulation,  and  development,  of 
international  law,  from  time  to  time. 

Criticisms  of  this  scheme  have  been  abundant. 
Some  urge  that  it  goes  too  far;  others  that  it  does 
not  go  far  enough.  The  latter  point  to  the  fact 
that  no  provision  is  made  to  govern  the  case  of  a 
breach  of  the  peace  by  an  outsider.  The  answer 
is  two-fold;  first  that  such  a  league  would  ulti- 
mately, and  in  all  probability  very  quickly,  take  in 
all  the  great  nations;  and  second,  that  doubtless 
the  nations  composing  the  League  would  enter  into 
agreement  as  to  their  dealings  with  outside  nations 
or  groups,  but  that  these  matters  may  wisely  be 
left  to  the  developments  of  future  policy. 

Those  who  criticize  the  program  of  the  League 
to  Enforce  Peace  as  going  too  far  declare  that  it 
demands  a  yielding  of  sovereignty  to  which  no 
great  nation  would  consent.  The  answer  is  that 
no  real  international  order  can  be  established 
which  does  not  involve  some  limitation  of  irre- 
sponsible nationalism.  In  fact  such  limitation  Is 
precisely  one  of  the  aims  of  the  League,  and  such 


io8     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

irresponsible  nationalism  one  of  the  dangers  it 
aims  to  avert  or  reduce.  The  words  of  Profes- 
sor Gilbert  Murray  have  the  essence  of  wisdom  in 
them: — ''  The  chief  counsel  of  wisdom  here  is  to 
be  sure  to  go  far  enough.  Outvoted  minorities 
must  accustom  themselves  to  giving  way." 

Such  a  scheme  as  this  would  insure  two  ines- 
timable factors  of  peace-preservation,  delay  and 
publicity,  with  a  clear  foreknowledge  on  the  part 
of  every  peace-breaker  of  the  results  of  his 
action. 

There  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  a  pro- 
gram, very  serious  ones.  We  shall  attempt  to 
state  and  meet  some  of  them  in  a  succeeding  chap- 
ter. But  at  least  it  is  a  way  out  of  the  present 
anarchy,  which  has  become  clearly  intolerable. 

Viscount  Grey  has  recently  said  that  had  such 
a  League  to  Enforce  Peace  been  in  existence  in 
the  summer  of  19 14,  there  would  have  been  no 
war.  His  final  note  to  the  Berlin  government,  im- 
ploring delay  in  the  interest  of  the  preservation  of 
the  peace,  pledged  his  most  earnest  efforts  to  bring 
about  some  such  international  understanding,  by 
which  Germany  might  have  her  rightful  future  in- 
sured against  attack  by  any  of  her  neighbors  or 
any  coalition  of  nations. 

Consider  what  would  have  been  the  course  of 
events,  had  such  a  League  of  Nations  been  work- 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      109 

ing  effectively  in  the  troubled  days  and  weeks  of 
early  summer  in  19 14.  Austria's  demands  con- 
tained in  the  ultimatum  to  Serbia  would,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  have  been  submitted  to  the  Court  at 
The  Hague,  or,  had  the  matter  been  deemed  non- 
justiciable, to  a  special  council  of  conciliation. 
Pending  the  verdict  of  such  court  or  council,  Aus- 
tria would  have  been  under  bonds  of  honor  not  to 
open  hostlHtles.  Had  she  Insisted  on  taking  her 
own  course,  regardless  of  her  solemn  pledges,  she 
would  have  found  the  other  great  powers  at  once 
ranged  against  her.  Can  any  one  seriously  believe 
that  the  atack  on  Serbia  would  have  taken  place 
under  such  conditions? 

"  But,"  the  critic  will  urge,  "  can  any  one  seri- 
ously believe,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Germany 
would  have  kept  her  promise  as  a  member  of  the 
League  of  Nations?  Would  she  not  at  once  have 
repudiated  her  international  obligations  and 
ranged  herself  on  the  side  of  Austria?  And 
would  not  the  result  therefore  have  been  exactly 
the  same,  whether  or  no  a  League  of  Nations  had 
existed  in  1914?  "  Undoubtedly  Germany  would 
have  been  ready  to  stand  by  Austria,  whatever 
became  of  her  International  agreements.  But  the 
situation  would  have  been  vitally  different  In  two 
Immensely  Important  particulars :  —  The  first  Is 
that  the  aggressive  character  of  the  war  would 


no    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

have  been  Instantly  and  unmistakably  clear  to  the 
people  of  Germany  and  Austria,  as  well  as  to  the 
whole  world.  We  would  have  heard  no  seductive 
and  confusing  statements  about  "  this  war  which 
was  forced  upon  us."  An  immense  element  of 
strength  would  thus  have  been  taken  from  the  Teu- 
tonic aggressors.  The  second  difference  is  that 
the  war  would  have  been  begun  with  a  clear  real- 
ization on  the  part  of  the  Central  Powers  that  not 
only  France  and  Russia,  but  Great  Britain,  Italy, 
and  the  United  States,  not  to  mention  less  power- 
ful nations,  would  instantly  have  been  ranged 
against  them.  No  one  who  has  studied  with  any 
care  the  events  of  the  opening  days  of  the  war  can 
doubt  that  Germany  and  Austria  would  have  hesi- 
tated and  very  likely  would  have  consented  to  some 
of  the  measures  cf  conciliation  proposed  by  the 
British  Foreign  Secretary,  had  they  known  beyond 
a  doubt  that  England  would  enter  the  war,  if  Ger- 
many began  It.  In  view  of  these  facts.  It  is  not 
too  strong  a  statement  which  Viscount  Grey  has 
made,  that  had  such  a  League  been  in  existence  in 
1 9 14,  the  war  would  not  have  come. 

In  considering  the  proposed  scheme  of  the 
League  to  Enforce  Peace,  earnest  attention  should 
be  paid  to  the  fourth  provision.  It  is  deserving  of 
special  emphasis.  No  League  of  Nations  can  be 
strong  and  lasting  if  it  lack  this  provision.     A 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS      iii 

league  organized  merely  to  preserve  in  fixed  and 
unchangeable  form  the  status  quo  of  the  peace  set- 
tlement Vv^ould  in  time  become  an  instrument  of 
injustice.  For  nations  grow  and  decay;  problems 
and  conditions  change;  there  must  be  a  certain 
measure  of  elasticity  about  any  agreements  into 
which  the  nations  enter,  with  reasonable  provision 
for  discussion  with  a  view  to  alteration  of  treaties, 
understandings,  and  the  like. 

No  one,  not  even  the  most  ardent  partisan,  be- 
lieves that  any  scheme  proposed  is  perfect,  or  even 
that  any  can  serve  as  a  model  of  the  desired  inter- 
national order  without  radical  modifications.  But 
some  such  International  organization  is  the  one 
hope  of  the  world.  The  choice  confronting  us 
has  been  graphically  expressed  by  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells:  "  The  choice  is  between  a  league  of  free 
nations,  and  a  lot  of  freebooting  nations,  looting, 
amid  the  ruins  of  a  burning  world,  for  non-existent 
food."  We  do  not  want  a  Prussianized  world, 
efficient,  powerful,  ordered,  but  subservient  and 
cowed.  We  do  not  want  a  Russianized  world, 
free,  but  chaotic,  disorganized,  wild,  a  prey  to  the 
strong:.  We  want  a  world  where  free  nations  live 
together  and  work  together  as  the  Entente  nations 
and  America  are  now  living  and  working,  a  world 
free  and  ordered,  "  the  reign  of  law,  based  upon 
the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  sustained  by  the 


112     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

organized  opinion  of  mankind."  ^  That  amounts 
to  saying  that  what  we  want  to  see,  what  we  must 
see,  if  human  life  is  to  be  decent  and  safe  and 
happy,  is  a  League  of  free  nations  pledged  to  keep 
the  peace  by  the  efficient  and  prompt  administra- 
tion of  international  justice. 
1  President  Wilson;  speech  at  Mt.  Vernon,  July  4,  1918. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PROBLEMS    CONFRONTING   INTERNATIONALISM 

A  SERIOUS  mistake,  common  among  peace-lov- 
ing and  internationally-minded  folk  in  the  days 
before  the  war,  was  that  of  facing  the  task  of 
international  organization  with  an  easy  optimism. 
We  believed  in  the  reasonableness  of  human  na- 
ture. We  did  not  appreciate  how  unreasonable 
men  are,  or  how  tenacious  are  the  roots  of  old 
prejudices  and  passions  and  points  of  view.  If 
the  war  has  rendered  no  other  service,  at  least  it 
has  opened  our  eyes  to  the  serious  nature  of 
the  task  confronting  forward-looking  men,  has 
aroused  in  us  a  wholesome  conviction  that  no 
progress  can  be  made  toward  a  lasting  peace  with- 
out a  frank  and  resolute  facing  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  way. 

A  League  of  Free  Nations  will  never  come  Into 
existence  simply  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  good 
men  want  it,  and  admire  it,  and  talk  about  it  in 
elevated  language.  It  will  come  only  by  long, 
hard  work,  so  determined  and  skillful  that  It  will 
be  able  to  clear  away  the  stubborn  obstacles,  and 

113 


114    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

give  the  great  world-ideal  free  course.  It  may  be 
well  at  this  point  then  to  set  before  ourselves  some 
of  the  major  difficulties  which  must  be  faced  and 
overcome.  We  may  not  be  able  as  yet  to  discern 
practical  ways  of  meeting  them,  but  it  will  be  of 
some  service  to  recognize  them  clearly. 

These  difficulties  are  well  grouped  and  concisely 
expressed  in  a  recent  article  by  Mr.  H.  N.  Brails- 
ford: 

"  It  Is  well  that  we  should  remind  ourselves  en- 
ergetically that  the  idea  of  a  League  of  Nations, 
familiar  though  the  phrase  now  is,  is  still  a  novel 
and  speculative  conception,  capable  of  many  defini- 
tions. Is  it  merely  a  treaty  of  arbitration,  or  is  it 
a  first  step  towards  the  federal  government  of  the 
world?  Will  it  rely  on  national  armies,  or  will  it 
attempt  (surely  too  hazardous  a  feat)  to  con- 
struct, as  Mr.  Wells  advocates,  an  international 
police?  Will  It  Ignore  the  economic  relations  of 
states,  as  the  two  propagandist  societies  In  Amer- 
ica and  England  seem  to  assume,  or  must  It  on  the 
contrary  be  built  on  the  control  of  the  world's  raw 
materials,  shipping  and  markets?  Will  It  leave 
the  seas  to  the  control  of  the  strongest  navy,  as  I 
suppose  nine  Englishmen  In  ten  assume,  or  will  the 
League  Itself,  as  the  French  Socialists  phrase  it, 
become  "  the  mistress  of  the  seas  "?  Will  it  be 
a  mere  league  of  governments,  or  shall  we  begin 


PROBLEMS  115 

to  build  up,  at  an  early  stage,  some  structure  of 
representative  and  democratic  control?  Does 
disarmament  mean  small  professional  armies,  or 
does  it  mean  national  militias  ?  Will  it  tolerate  on 
any  terms  defensive  alliances  among  its  members? 
Finally,  we  must  face  the  biggest  question  of  all. 
Is  the  League  a  close  conservative  structure,  built 
to  secure  a  precarious  security  by  maintaining  for- 
ever the  status  quo  of  the  war  settlement,  or  is  it, 
on  the  contrary,  an  organization  which  will  take 
growth  and  ambition  into  account,  and  aim  at  com- 
passing by  peaceful  means  the  largest  changes  as 
changes  become  due?  None  of  these  questions 
have  yet  been  faced,  even  among  ourselves.  Few 
of  them  have  been  discussed  even  in  books  or 
pamphlets.  None  of  them  has  been  settled  by 
public  opinion." 

Obviously,  to  form  a  successful  and  strong 
League  of  Nations  will  be  no  easy  matter  of  "  do- 
ing for  the  world  what  our  fathers  did  for  Amer- 
ica." Even  were  the  task  no  more  serious  and  in- 
tricate than  that,  we  would  do  well  to  remember 
how  near  our  fathers  came  to  failure  in  framing  a 
constitutional  government  for  the  thirteen  col- 
onies. We  recall  Franklin's  request  for  prayer, 
all  other  hope  having  failed.  We  remember  his 
final  words,  in  which  he  said  that  often,  looking  at 
the  sun  pictured  on  the  head  of  the  chair  of  the 


ii6     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

presiding  officer,  he  had  wondered  whether  it  were 
a  rising  or  a  setting  sun.  It  was  no  light  task  to 
organize  a  government  that  should  command  the 
respect  and  loyalty  of  thirteen  separate  states.  It 
is  a  task  vastly  more  difficult  to  make  any  real  and 
valuable  and  promising  world-organization. 

For  such  a  league  must  be  far  more  than  a 
means  of  preserving  the  status  quo  of  the  peace 
settlement.  Some  of  the  problems  It  must  meet 
successfully  are  the  following: 

I.  It  must  meet  the  problems  created  by  the  fact 
that  human  society  is  continually  In  flux,  and  that 
therefore  nations  grow,  decay,  expand,  change. 
Rigidity,  the  assumption  that  any  settlement  what- 
ever can  last  unchanged  through  many  years,  will 
make  failure  Inevitable.  In  some  way  treaties, 
and  international  laws  and  agreements,  must  be 
susceptible  of  adjustment  to  meet  new  conditions. 
It  Is  Intolerable  that  a  growing  world  should  be 
bound  by  unyielding  bands. 

No  scheme  or  device  for  an  international  or- 
der can  long  avail  which  goes  no  further  than  the 
effective  enforcement  of  existing  treaties  and  un- 
derstandings. Sooner  or  later, —  and  not  too  late, 
—  we  must  come  to  something  analogous  to  our 
Supreme  Court  In  the  United  States,  with  power 
to  Interpret,  adapt,  and  legally  develop  existing 
laws  and  agreements,  to  meet  the  changing  needs 


PROBLEMS  117 

of  an  ever-growing  world.  Here  we  confront  an 
immense  and  intricate  problem.  How  long  would 
our  government  have  endured,  had  not  the  Consti- 
tution been  given  elasticity  by  the  living  decisions 
and  Interpretations  of  the  Courts?  An  Interna- 
tional order  consisting  of  nothing  more  than  a 
court  to  try  cases  of  breach  of  existing  law  would 
hardly  last  while  being  set  up. 

2.  A  second  serious  problem  is  the  problem  of 
the  small  state.     This  Is  two-fold. 

Can  small  states  join  In  a  League  to  Enforce 
Peace?  Could  they  reasonably  and  with  security 
for  themselves  give  their  pledge  to  turn  their 
forces  instantly  against  an  aggressor,  as  the 
League  program  demands  that  every  signatory 
shall  do?  Suppose  a  war  to  arise  similar  to  the 
present  struggle,  while  the  League  is  In  existence. 
Could  Holland,  Denmark,  Switzerland,  at  once 
open  hostilities  toward  Germany,  and  not  meet  the 
fate  which  Serbia  and  Belgium  met  in  19 14? 
Clearly  participation  for  the  small  state  must  be  on 
a  basis  somewhat  different  from  that  which  holds 
for  a  great  power. 

On  the  other  hand  what  representation  can  a 
small  state  rightly  expect  in  the  councils  and  courts 
of  the  International  government?  Fine  phrases 
are  heard  about  the  "  equal  rights  of  all  nations, 
small  and  great."     How  can  those  rights  be  rec- 


ii8     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

ognized  In  any  scheme  of  International  order? 
It  was  necessary,  In  the  formation  of  our  Federal 
Government,  to  provide  two  houses,  in  one  of 
which  the  great  states  have  proportionate  power, 
while  In  the  other  all  the  states,  great  and  small, 
sit  as  equals.  Can  some  such  scheme  be  devised 
for  the  world-government?  The  Senate  of  the 
United  States  has  not  proved  altogether  and  al- 
ways a  dependable  and  valuable  part  of  our  gov- 
erning machinery;  there,  more  than  anywhere  else, 
the  Intrigues  of  vested  Interests  find  their  nests. 
On  the  vaster  plane  of  International  government, 
with  the  Immensely  greater  Interests  Involved,  with 
the  far  more  subtle  and  jealous  and  powerful  play 
of  separatist  tendencies,  and  group  politics,  how 
can  the  balance  be  secured  wherein  neither  the 
small  state  nor  the  great  power  shall  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  other?  We  must  bear  In  mind  that 
one  of  the  rocks  on  which  the  fair-going  split  at 
the  Hague  Conferences  was  the  Insistence  of  lesser 
states  on  the  principle  of  equal  representation. 
Any  practicable  and  successful  scheme  for  an  inter- 
national order  would  seem  to  demand  great  and 
generous  confidence  on  the  part  of  small  states  and 
great  states,  each  toward  the  other.  And  no  one 
has  as  yet  suggested  the  device  which  will  meet  this 
tremendously  practical  and  determinative  problem. 
3.  A  third  problem  is  the  problem  of  adminis' 


PROBLEMS  119 

tration.  Not  long  ago  the  idea  had  widespread 
acceptance  that  the  way  to  permanent  order  was 
through  the  abandonment  of  national  armaments 
and  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  an  interna- 
tional pohce.  But  the  difficulties  confronting  such 
a  scheme  are  wellnigh  insurmountable.  The  con- 
stitution of  such  an  International  force,  the  chances 
for  corruption,  for  underhanded  efforts  to  secure 
control  of  It  in  the  Interests  of  some  one  nation  or 
group  of  nations,  the  temptations  to  unscrupulous 
world-politics  In  the  naming  of  the  commander  of 
the  force,  and  the  like,  these  are  dangers  formid- 
able and  sinister.  Attempts  to  create  an  interna- 
tional police  force,  as  in  the  case  of  the  expedition 
to  rescue  the  legations  In  Peking  during  the  Boxer 
troubles,  do  not  offer  much  encouragement.  We 
do  not  want  to  be  involved  in  any  more  appoint- 
ments like  that  of  von  Waldersee,  or  any  more 
united  expeditions  like  that  In  which  the  Kaiser 
sent  his  troops  out  with  orders  to  play  the  part  of 
Huns  in  China. 

Propositions  are  being  made  to  meet  this  diffi- 
culty. A  graded  scale  of  armament  Is  proposed 
for  all  nations,  or  a  graded  scale  of  expenditure 
on  armament,  or  international  control  of  the  man- 
ufacture and  sale  of  munitions.  Some  solution 
must  be  found,  or  the  International  government 
will  have  slight  power  and  permanence. 


120    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

4.  Even  more  serious  is  the  problem  of  sanc- 
tions. How  can  there  be  provided  sanctions  so 
powerful  in  their  appeal  that  they  will  bind  the  na- 
tions strongly  to  the  international  organization? 

Some  two  years  ago  there  appeared  an  article 
by  L.  P.  Jacks,  in  the  Hibbert  Journal,  in  which  he 
dealt  most  acutely  with  this  particular  problem. 
He  pointed  out  the  obvious  fact  that  one  of  the 
forces  operating  most  powerfully  hitherto  in  the 
way  of  holding  citizens  and  groups  and  divisions 
within  a  nation  to  an  unwavering  loyalty  to  the  na- 
tional authority  has  been  the  fear  of  other  nations. 
He  then  raised  the  serious  question,  whether  an 
international  organization,  a  world-government, 
could  hold  together  when,  by  its  very  existence, 
that  pressure  of  the  fear  of  other  governments 
was  removed.  The  question  is  so  grave  that  we 
can  scarcely  wonder  that  it  reduced  the  writer  to 
the  despairing  conclusion  that  "  a  league  of  na- 
tions may  be  the  only  hope  of  the  world,  but  there 
is  no  hope  of  that." 

Some  way  or  ways  must  be  discovered  by  which 
the  international  organization  may  be  set  before 
the  nations  as  so  big,  and  Important,  and  com- 
manding, and  indispensable  to  vital  Interests,  that 
it  will  inevitably  command  their  unwavering  loy- 
alty. The  economic  interests  of  the  nations  must 
somehow  be  tied  up  with  the  success  of  the  league 


PROBLEMS  121 

of  nations.  It  must  be  made  economically  very 
advantageous  to  any  nation  to  "  come  In  and  play 
fair."  There  must  be  men  to  do  what  Hamilton 
did  in  1789,  show  the  powerful  states  that  to  join 
the  union  of  states  will  work  to  their  economic 
profit  and  to  stay  out  to  their  economic  loss. 
Some  have  proposed  that  large  international  cred- 
its be  established,  huge  deposits  made  by  the  great 
nations,  which  will  be  forfeited  when  any  nation 
breaks  the  peace,  "  bonds  to  keep  the  peace  "  on 
an  immense  scale. 

Here  we  find  the  legitimate  defense  for  the 
threat  of  continued  economic  discrimination 
against  an  unrepentant  and  unreformed  Germany. 
The  original  "  Paris  Declaration  "  was  seriously 
defective.  It  smacked  of  vengeance,  and,  worse 
still,  of  a  hidden  eagerness  to  take  advantage  of 
the  war  to  weaken  Germany's  legitimate  commer- 
cial aspirations.  The  effort  being  made  at  present 
to  enroll  men  and  women  here  in  the  United  States 
in  an  organization  each  member  of  which  pledges 
himself  never  again,  so  long  as  he  lives,  consciously 
to  buy  any  article  made  In  Germany,  Is  false,  fool- 
ish, dangerous,  and  immoral.  We  have  no  right 
so  to  forecast  and  discount  and  bind  the  future 
years.  Any  decent  man  or  woman  must  hope  that 
Germany  will  speedily  come  to  such  a  change  of 
heart  and  mind  that  intercourse  with  her  will  be- 


122     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

come  safe  and  honorable  again,  and  must  leave 
the  way  open  for  such  a  course,  even  though  the 
grounds  for  such  a  hope  seem  very  shadowy  and 
uncertain. 

But  on  the  other  hand  the  action  of  the  Union 
of  British  Seamen  in  announcing  a  boycott  of  Ger- 
man trade,  the  length  and  severity  of  which  will 
depend  on  the  German  conduct  of  the  war,  is  the 
use  of  a  fair  and  honorable  weapon;  and  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  warning  that  we  cannot  contemplate 
free  economic  relations  with  a  Germany  still  auto- 
cratic and  dominated  with  the  imperialistic  ideal  is 
an  indication  of  a  legitimate  and  effective  method 
of  securing  the  allegiance  of  powerful  states  to  the 
proposed  League  of  Nations. 

But  other  sanctions  than  the  economic  must  be 
worked  out.  In  some  way  the  imagination  must 
be  aroused  and  the  international  order  made  to 
appeal  not  merely  to  cool  reason,  but  to  heart  loy- 
alty. We  must  find  something  which  will  do  for 
the  International  organization  what  the  flag  does 
for  the  nation,  symbolize  and  make  concrete  a 
great  object  of  reverence  and  loyalty. 

5.  The  problem  of  economic  relations  is  a  seri- 
ous one  in  itself,  quite  apart  from  its  relation  to 
the  sanctions  needed  by  the  international  order. 
It  may  not  be  possible  to  trace  all  wars  to  economic 
causes,  but  no  other  one  source  can  so  readily  claim 


PROBLEMS  123 

that  doubtful  honor.  Is  not  this  war,  at  heart,  a 
conflict  not  about  Alsace  or  Trieste,  but  about  the 
control  of  Africa,  China,  Mesopotamia,  Russia, 
the  great  backward,  unexplolted  territories  of  the 
world?  It  Is  not  too  much  to  say  that  "  just  as 
the  chief  task  of  American  politics  to  the  Civil 
War  was  the  organization  of  the  unexplolted 
West,  so  the  chief  task  of  world  diplomacy  to-day 
Is  the  organization  of  virgin  territory  and  back- 
ward peoples."  * 

The  peace  of  the  world  will  be  unstable  just  so 
long  as  Individuals  or  groups  can  go  into  backward 
countries,  obtain  concessions,  make  investments, 
develop  vast  private  Interests,  and  depend  on  the 
home  government  to  enforce  their  claims  and  de- 
fend their  Interests.  Under  such  conditions  every 
undeveloped  country,  where  are  to  be  found  rich 
resources  and  a  defective  political  and  social  or- 
der, becomes  a  breeding-place  of  wars. 

Somehow  the  international  order,  if  it  is  to  be 
powerful  and  permanent,  must  deal  with  this  prob- 
lem. Shall  national  backing  of  individual  Invest- 
ors be  henceforth  outlawed?  Shall  Industrial 
groups  take  their  own  risk?  Shall  International 
commissions  or  syndicates  be  formed  to  see  fair 
play,  and  to  adjust  rival  claims?  Certainly  that 
proposition  has  in  it  an  added  advantage,  in  that 

1  "  The  Stakes  of  Diplomacy " ;  Walter  Lippmann. 


124     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

it  would  enhance  the  prestige  of  the  international 
government,  by  giving  to  it  real  and  great  powers. 
Shall  an  International  Bank  be  set  up,  from  which, 
and  from  which  alone,  nations  needing  funds  for 
their  development  may  obtam  credi'ts,  subject  to 
careful  oversight  by  an  international  commission? 

Here  is  a  group  of  problems  to  be  met  and 
solved,  before  we  can  hope  for  a  real  and  lasting 
League  of  Nations. 

6.  We  are  also  confronted  with  the  problems 
connected  with  the  peace  settlement  of  the  present 
war.  Can  such  a  settlement  be  arranged  that  sore 
places  shall  be  healed,  the  roots  of  future  wars 
eradicated,  and  the  life  of  small  nations  assured? 
Shall  Germany  be  admitted  to  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, and,  if  so,  on  what  terms  and  how  soon? 

These  are  but  samples  of  the  vast  problems  con- 
fronting any  attempt  at  the  establishment  of  an 
international  order.  The  attempt  bristles  with 
difficulties  on  every  side,  so  many  and  so  great  that 
we  might  well  call  the  task  hopeless,  were  it  not  so 
imperative. 

In  what  spirit  shall  we  face  these  problems  and 
difficulties?     Two  ways  lie  open  to  us. 

The  first  is  the  spirit  of  hopelessness.  We  may 
look  at  all  these  problems,  taking  them,  as  we 
should,  in  their  full  seriousness,  and  say  that  they 
leave  no  room  for  hope,  that  the  idea  of  a  League 


PROBLEMS  125 

of  Nations  to  Enforce  Peace  Is  Utopian,  the  dream 
of  poets  and  prophets,  very  beautiful  but  wholly 
impossible. 

Many  there  be  who  will  thus  say,  "  Who  will 
show  us  any  good?  "  There  are  large  and  strong 
groups  who  will  urge  that  we  relapse  Into  the  old 
anarchy,  counting  the  proposals  for  a  real  Interna- 
tional order  as  baseless  dreams.  There  Is  the 
group  of  the  temperamentally  hard-headed, — 
wooden-headed  would  be  the  better  term, —  all  the 
sluggish,  the  reactionaries,  the  materialists,  the 
naturally  unbelieving,  who  ever  Interpret  life  In  Its 
lowest  terms.  There  are  the  many  whose  private 
or  class  advantage  lies  In  maintaining  unchanged 
the  present  system  of  Industry  and  politics,  and 
who  note  how  Intimately  the  new  system  of  Inter- 
nationalism Is  associated  with  social  and  political 
reform.  There  are  the  irreconcilable  nationalists, 
who  exalt  local  patriotism  into  a  supreme  religion, 
and  resent  any  attempt  at  the  establishment  of  an 
international  order  as  Involving  the  weakening  of 
patriotism.  There  are  all  the  militarists,  who 
count  war  Inevitable,  and  good,  and  believe  that 
no  great  question  Is  settled  until  It  has  been  fought 
out  in  battle.  This  makes  a  mighty  army  to  sup- 
port the  cause  of  hopelessness,  to  impede  the  prog- 
ress of  a  sane  and  real  International  order.  It 
will  be  hard  to  overcome  such  forces. 


126     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

But  another  spirit  is  possible,  and  it  is  the  onlf 
spirit  in  which  the  work  can  be  done.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  faith,  of  determined  resolve.  We  may 
well  remind  ourselves,  and  all  men,  of  the  alterna- 
tive to  the  establishment  of  a  League  of  Nations. 
That  alternative  is  set  forth  strongly  in  the  open- 
ing pages  of  G.  Lowes  Dickinson's  book,  "  The 
Choice  Before  Us."  The  war  has  made  palpable 
to  us  the  fact  that  no  one  nation  can  safely  live 
unarmed  while  other  nations  prepare  for  war, 
that,  in  fact,  a  single  nation  that  arms  sets  the  pace 
for  all  the  world.  The  only  hope  for  relief  from 
the  burden  of  competitive  armament,  inevitably 
leading  to  future  wars,  is  through  the  organization 
of  a  League  of  Nations  to  guarantee  peace  and 
justice  to  all  peoples.  What  will  it  mean  if  fail- 
ure to  set  up  such  an  international  order  condemns 
the  nations,  already  burdened  with  the  colossal 
debts  of  the  war,  and  the  vast  demands  for  recon- 
struction, to  arm  as  never  in  the  past,  to  put  all 
their  energies  Into  the  insane  competition  which 
will  grow  the  more  keen  and  insatiable  as  Russia 
and  China  enter  it  with  their  vast  resources? 
That  way  lies  ruin,  inevitable  and  complete.  To 
keep  up  the  policy  of  armaments  will  mean  also 
that  the  scientists  and  inventors,  needed  so  des- 
perately for  leadership  In  tasks  of  reconstruction, 
will  be  devoting  their  energies  to  the  discovery  and 


PROBLEMS  127 

development  of  new  means  of  destruction.  Hux- 
ley said  that  Pasteur,  by  his  discoveries  In  sheep- 
culture  and  silk-culture,  saved  France  a  larger 
amount  than  the  huge  Indemnity  she  had  to  pay  to 
Prussia  in  1871.  What  a  loss  If  future  Pasteurs 
must  bend  all  their  energies  to  the  devilish  work  of 
making  bacteriology  available  In  "  the  next  war  "  ! 

It  will  hearten  us  for  the  difficult  task  to  see  thus 
clearly  the  alternative  to  the  establishment  of  a 
League  of  Nations  to  Enforce  Peace.  The 
scheme  may  be  Utopian,  but  It  Is  mere  good  sense 
to  say,  "  as  between  Utopia  and  Hell,  give  me 
Utopia," —  a  remark  —  strange  to  say  —  credited 
to  both  David  Starr  Jordan  and  Theodore  Roose- 
velt! 

We  do  well  to  remind  ourselves  also,  for  our 
encouragement,  of  the  strong  men  and  groups  who 
do  not  count  the  establishment  of  a  League  of  Na- 
tions an  impossibility,  but  have  pledged  It  their 
hearty  and  full  allegiance.  The  men  in  whose 
hands  now  rest  the  destinies  of  the  world  are  fully 
committed  to  the  Idea.  President  Wilson  has 
given  it  central  place  in  wellnigh  every  address. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  Mr.  Balfour,  Mr.  Asqulth, 
Viscount  Grey, —  It  Is  hard  to  name  a  leader  of 
thought  and  action  In  Great  Britain  who  Is  not 
committed  to  a  League  of  Nations.  The  British 
Labor  Party,  In  Its  strong  and  arresting  statement 


128     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

of  its  war  aims,  made  the  establishment  of  a 
League  of  Nations  second  only  to  restoration  and 
reparation  toward  Belgium.  The  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  set  the  League  of  Nations  among 
the  indispensable  aims  and  objects  of  the  war. 
Equally  emphatic  has  been  the  endorsement  of 
Chambers  of  Commerce  and  business  leaders  gen- 
erally. The  tides  of  thought  and  feeling  set 
strongly  that  way  just  now.  "  They  that  be  with 
us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them."  It  is  a 
time  to  be  courageous  and  hopeful. 

But,  regardless  of  numbers  and  signs  and  fav- 
oring winds  and  tides,  this  is  a  task  to  be  faced  in 
the  spirit  of  invincible  faith  and  resoluteness.  We 
should  find  in  every  difficulty  a  challenge  and  an 
appeal.  When  men  say  that  the  scheme  is  im- 
practicable, let  Lord  Robert  Cecil  give  his  extraor- 
dinary reply,  "  Practical  men  never  accomplish 
anything."  What  is  the  history  of  human  prog- 
ress but  the  record  of  the  doing  of  what  men  said 
could  not  be  done?  The  advance  of  man  has 
been  the  continual  confounding  of  cold  reason  and 
prudence,  the  continual  achievement  of  that  which 
had  been  dubbed  impossible.  Human  sacrifice 
had  to  go,  slavery  had  to  go,  prohibition  of  intoxi- 
cants is  coming,  because  men  went  on  to  do  what 
the  mass  of  men  said  could  not  be  done.  Why, 
when  one  of  us  would  voice  impossibility,  he  in- 


PROBLEMS  129 

stinctlvely  says,  "  I  could  no  more  do  that  than  I 
could  fly";  and  even  as  he  says  it  he  may  hear 
overhead  the  snarl  of  a  propeller,  reminding  him 
how  the  Wrights  did  that  for  believing  in  which 
Langley  was  called  a  fool. 

At  least  let  us  have  faith  that  the  coming  Peace 
Conference  can  be  radically  different  from  those 
of  the  past.  Two  fatal  defects  they  have  had; 
they  were  limited  to  the  nations  engaged  as  bel- 
hgerents;  and  they  dissolved  after  devising  a  set- 
tlement, with  no  provision  for  its  enforcement,  still 
less  for  its  interpretation  and  adaptation.  It  is 
plainly  possible  to  hold  together  the  coming  Peace 
Conference,  as  the  nucleus  of  an  international  or- 
der, and  to  recognize  in  it  the  right  of  all  nations 
to  be  considered.  Indeed  that  part  of  the  prob- 
lem is  almost  solved,  for  almost  all  the  world  is 
in  the  war. 

The  establishment  of  a  sane  and  real  interna- 
tional order  is  one  of  those  tasks  for  which  faith 
alone  is  adequate.  Christian  men  should  feel  the 
challenge  and  the  appeal  to  them.  Christians  are 
in  the  world  in  order  to  do  the  things  which  unbe- 
hevers  say  cannot  be  done.  They  follow  a  Mas- 
ter Who  said  that  if  they  had  faith,  "  Nothing 
should  be  impossible." 

When  men  look  at  anything  great  and  good  and 
desirable,  and  say,  as  Mr.  Jacks  said  of  the  League 


130     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

of  Nations  idea,  that  It  Is  the  only  hope  of  the 
world,  but  is  itself  almost  hopeless;  then  the  men 
of  faith  should  rise  and,  in  the  might  that  comes 
from  God,  do  the  thing  that  should  be  done,  know- 
ing that  that  which  should  be,  can  be,  and  resolved 
that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  It  shall  be. 

"  O  why  and  for  what  are  we  waiting,  while  our  brethren 

droop  and  die, 
And  on  every  wind  of  the  heavens  a  wasted  life  goes  by  ? 
Come  then,  since  all  things  call  us,  the  living  and  the 

dead. 
And  o'er  the  weltering  tangle  a  glimmering  light  is  shed ; 
Ah,   come,   cast  off   all   fooling,   for  this   at   least  we 

know :  — 
That  the  dawn  and  the  day  are  coming,  and  forth  the 

banners  go." 


CHAPTER  IX 

CHRISTIAN     PRINCIPLES     UNDERLYING    INTERNA- 
TIONALISM 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  we  see  this 
cause  of  Internationalism  not  merely  as  a  wise  and 
prudent  enterprise,  an  expedient  move,  or  a  bit  of 
far-visioned  wisdom;  but  that  we  see  it  as  a  holy- 
cause,  with  the  sanction  of  God  and  of  faith  and 
of  religion. 

We  should  see  the  war  in  that  way.  There  has 
been  much  talk  about  this  as  a  holy  war.  But  if 
we  are  to  have  even  the  slightest  justification  for 
such  language,  we  must  see  the  war  as  something 
more  than  an  attempt  to  whip  Germany,  or  to  pun- 
ish Germany,  or  to  restrain  Germany;  we  cannot 
count  it  a  holy  war,  or  even  a  decent  war,  until  we 
see  it  as  the  inevitable  way  toward  something  God 
wants,  something  which,  so  far  as  we  see,  can  come 
now  in  no  other  way,  something  so  great  and  valu- 
able that  the  gaining  of  it  is  worth  our  wading 
through  blood  and  fire  and  all  the  anguish  of  this 
war. 

We  must  realize  how  deeply  Christian  princi- 
131 


132     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

pies,  the  faiths  and  hopes  we  count  most  sacred, 
are  involved  in  this  conflict.  We  must  see  how 
absolutely  and  vitally  Christian  ideals  and  prin- 
ciples underlie  the  whole  theory  and  practice  of 
internationalism,  for  the  furtherance  of  which  we 
have  been  prosecuting  the  war. 

What  Christian  principles  and  ideals  are  vitally 
involved  in  the  war? 

First  we  note  that  the  very  root  of  the  system 
we  are  opposing  is  pagan,  or  anti-Christian.  The 
war  is,  at  deepest,  a  conflict  between  the  pagan 
principle  of  competition,  of  self-advantage,  and 
the  Christian  principle  of  cooperation  and  love. 

These  forces  are  struggling  with  each  other  all 
through  our  organized  life.  God  keep  us  from 
the  fatal  error  of  supposing  that  all  evil  Is  on  the 
side  of  our  enemies!  We  could  better  afford  to 
be  blind  to  the  faults  of  Germany  than  to  be  blind 
to  the  faults  of  America.  In  education.  In  busi- 
ness, in  Industry,  everywhere,  the  two  forces  are 
locked  in  a  fierce  struggle.  But  that  struggle  Is 
most  evident,  the  line-up  is  most  clear,  the  conflict 
is  most  openly  avowed,  in  the  political  dealings  of 
nations,  and  especially  in  the  spirit  of  the  one  side 
and  of  the  other  in  the  present  war. 

A  godless  philosophy  of  evolution  has  gained 
prestige  and  power,  and  is  at  the  root  of  the  con- 
duct of  Germany  throughout  the  course  of  the 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  133 

war.  It  is  at  the  root  also  of  the  whole  organ- 
ized opposition  to  the  outworking  of  international 
order. 

It  is  not  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  as  Darwin 
propounded  it,  as  it  has  become  accepted  through 
the  whole  realm  of  our  scientific  and  religious 
thinking,  that  is  making  the  trouble.  Henry 
Drummond  and  thousands  of  other  Christians 
have  found  evolution  a  way  to  nobler  and  more 
soul-satisfying  conceptions  of  God.  It  is  when 
evolution  is  allied  with  a  materialistic  philosophy, 
that  it  comes  into  conflict  with  godliness,  when  it 
justifies  and  glorifies  the  brute  in  us,  and  exalts  the 
law  of  the  pack  and  the  gang  into  the  supreme  law 
for  states,  and  deifies  the  "  struggle  for  existence  " 
as  carried  out  in  the  jungle  into  the  supreme  ideal 
of  national  conduct.  Paganism,  in  its  search  for 
God,  goes  to  the  jungle,  to  nature,  to  the  animal. 
Christianity,  in  its  search  for  God,  goes  to  hu- 
manity. 

And  now  the  two  principles  are  in  mortal  com- 
bat, the  jungle-view  against  the  family-view  of  in- 
ternational relations. 

Some  months  ago  it  was  my  privilege  to  hear 
Mr.  Vernon  Kellogg  tell  of  his  experiences  under 
German  rule  in  Belgium.  His  story  was  vastly 
more  impressive  for  the  restraint,  the  care  not  to 
exaggerate,  which  marked  his  recital.     He  illus- 


134     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

trated  the  German  temper  In  an  instance  which  I 
venture  to  repeat. 

In  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in  connection  with 
the  Relief  Commission  in  Belgium,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  a  German  officer  be  assigned  to  accom- 
pany him  and  pass  upon  all  matters.  Mr.  Kellogg 
found  it  very  difficult  to  get  these  officers  to  see 
the  civilian  side,  the  humane  side,  of  the  relief 
work.  They  were  hard  to  move,  unless  they  could 
be  shown  that  positive  military  advantage  for  Ger- 
many would  result  from  the  particular  case  of  re- 
lief-giving. Hearing  that  a  former  friend  of  uni- 
versity days  in  Germany  had  been  incapacitated 
for  active  service  by  a  wound,  Mr.  Kellogg  eagerly 
asked  that  this  old  friend  be  assigned  as  his  com- 
rade in  the  work  of  relief.  Knowing  the  man  to 
be  kind-hearted,  loving  in  his  home,  a  pleasant,  hu- 
mane man  in  all  relationships,  he  expected  no 
further  trouble.  But  he  found  the  officer  harsh, 
strict,  merciless,  unwilling  to  concede  anything, 
however  trifling,  to  show  any  mercy,  unless  clearly 
for  the  advantage  of  the  German  cause.  At  last 
the  American  bluntly  asked  him  how  it  was  that 
he,  kind  at  heart,  loving  in  his  home  life,  was  scp 
merciless  toward  the  Belgian  people.  He  an- 
swered readily  enough  that  It  was  due  to  his  philos- 
ophy of  war  and  of  the  state.  He  said  he  be- 
lieved that  war  takes  the  same  place  In  the  life  of 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  135 

nations  that  the  struggle  for  existence  takes  in  the 
life  of  animals.  A  slight  lengthening  of  tooth  or 
claw  gives  to  the  type  the  power  to  survive.  That 
slight  advantage  must  not  be  sacrificed.  When 
war  comes  therefore,  mercy  must  be  put  aside; 
ruthlessness  becomes  the  only  morality;  kindness 
and  consideration  for  feelings  of  humanity  are 
weakening  and  Immoral. 

When  such  a  theory  of  life  and  relationship  gets 
a  nation  In  its  grip,  then  a  war  to  keep  that  nation 
and  that  theory  from  dominance  In  the  world  is  a 
war  in  defense  of  Christian  Ideals.  For  the  very 
meaning  and  essence  of  Christianity  is  love,  coop- 
eration, the  service  of  the  weak  by  the  strong. 
The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
One  Who  says,  in  that  quotation  from  Hosea 
which  Jesus  loved,  "  I  desire  mercy,  and  not  sac- 
rifice." 

There  can  be  no  question  which  is  the  Christian 
way,  the  way  of  ruthless  competition,  or  the  way 
of  generous  cooperation;  the  way  of  the  jungle,  or 
the  way  of  humanity.  When  God  said,  ''  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  He  meant  it  to 
govern  not  Individuals  and  families  only,  but  na- 
tions. He  meant  It  to  apply  to  Germany  in  her 
relations  with  Belgium,  to  Austria  in  her  relations 
with  Serbia,  to  the  United  States  In  her  relations 
with  Mexico  and  China.     When  the  apostle  gave 


136     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

as  the  law  of  Christ  the  great  principle  that  ''  We 
that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak,"  he  set  forth  a  principle  which  must  be  in 
eternal  conflict  with  the  law  of  self-advantage  and 
exploitation,  till  it  drive  it  out  of  the  social  life  of 
mankind. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  true  Christian  view  of 
life  also  to  hold  that  moral  and  religious  principles 
apply  everywhere,  through  the  entire  range  of 
life. 

President  Wilson  has  stated  this  as  one  of  the 
great  aims  of  the  war;  to  bring  nations  to  where 
they  will  be  governed  in  their  relations  with  one 
another  by  "  the  same  code  of  conduct  that  obtains 
among  Christian  gentlemen."  Can  there  be  any 
doubt  that  it  is  a  Christian  undertaking  to  attempt 
to  bring  about  such  a  change  in  the  relations  be- 
tween states? 

General  von  Bernhardi  is  continually  insisting 
that  the  principles  of  Christ  and  of  ethics  hold  only 
for  individuals;  that  nations  are  on  another  plane, 
where  these  moral  and  religious  principles  do  not 
apply.  Between  that  theory  and  the  faith  of  the 
Christian  that  Christ  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords  there  can  be  no  compromise.  Yet  to  adopt 
that  view,  that  the  principles  of  godliness  set  forth 
in  the  Word  of  God  apply  throughout  the  entire 
range  of  human  life,  would  involve  the  condem- 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES         137 

nation  of  our  past  international  relations,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  new  order  of  Christian  inter- 
nationalism. 

Take  a  single  instance.  The  15th  Psalm  is 
often  referred  to  as  a  portrait  of  "  God's  Gentle- 
man." Read  it  internationally,  applying  it  to  the 
life  and  conduct  of  a  state,  and  see  how  it  con- 
demns the  old  order  for  which  Germany  stands, 
and  necessitates  the  new  order  for  which  we  are 
beginning  to  see  that  we  are  fighting: 

"  Lord,  what  sort  of  nation  is  fit  to  dwell  In 
Thy  presence,  worthy  of  a  place  of  honor  in  Thy 
world? 

"  The  nation  that  walks  uprightly,  and  sets  jus- 
tice first  among  Its  aims,  and  speaks  the  truth  to 
other  nations  and  to  Itself. 

"  The  nation  that  does  not  slander  other  peo- 
ples, nor  set  spies  upon  its  neighbors,^  nor  cherish 
a  grudge  against  another  nation. 

*'  The  nation  which  despises  reprobate  nations, 
and  seeks  the  friendship  of  those  peoples  that  fear 
the  Lord. 

"  The  nation  which  stands  by  Its  International 
agreements  even  at  a  loss,  and  which  does  not  em- 
ploy its  power  to  oppress  the  weaker,  nor  use  its 
capital  to  exploit  and  dominate  the  helpless. 

"  Such  a  nation  shall  never  be  moved." 

1  Literal  translation;  cf.  Briggs  in  loc. 


138     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

What  would  the  world  be  If  that  one  little  Psalm 
became  the  ideal  of  every  nation? 

We  must  come  to  see  that  if  it  is  wrong  for  an 
individual  to  kill,  and  to  steal,  and  to  lie,  it  is 
wrong  also  for  nations  so  to  do.  If  Christian 
morality  is  not  for  the  whole  of  life,  it  is  too  weak 
for  any  of  it.  Such  a  view  of  the  social  and  polit- 
ical authority  of  the  religious  and  ethical  principles 
of  Christ  necessitates  the  outworking  of  an  inter- 
national order. 

What  are  the  legitimate  objects  of  ambition? 
The  Gospel  has  Its  answer.  ''  Seek  ye  first  His 
kingdom  and  His  righteousness."  "  What  shall 
it  profit  to  gain  the  world  and  lose  the  soul?  "  Is 
that  point  of  view  true  for  nations,  as  well  as  for 
individuals  ?  Certainly  It  Is  the  direct  contrary  of 
the  theory  of  legitimate  ambition  on  which  Ger- 
many has  worked. 

Down  below  the  question  whether  a  State,  by 
marvelously  efficient  use  of  the  resources  of  sci- 
ence, by  merciless  cultivation  of  military  force,  by 
subordination  of  all  individual  Interests  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  state  Itself,  can  blast  Its  way  to  world- 
dominion,  lies  the  deeper  question  of  the  Christian 
Gospel,  what  shall  It  profit  such  a  state  to  reach 
such  a  throne?  It  is  the  Christian  view  in  conflict 
with  the  unchristian,  that  we  see  In  this  war.  And 
the  implication  is  clear  for  international  hfe.     No 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  139 

International  order  Is  possible  on  the  pagan  theory 
of  the  legitimacy  of  selfish  ambition.  A  sane  and 
peaceful  and  lasting  international  life  can  come  to 
the  world  only  as  nations  accept  the  Gospel  prin- 
ciple that  It  does  not  pay  to  seek  national  self-ad- 
vantage at  the  expense  of  the  welfare  of  other 
peoples,  that  a  nation  which  does  not  set  first  the 
righteousness  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  in  the 
way  that  leads  to  destruction. 

What  Is  the  way  to  true  greatness?  Christ 
gives  a  ready  and  a  clear  answer.  "  The  kings  of 
the  earth  lord  It  over  them;  and  their  great  ones 
are  they  that  execute  authority  upon  them.  But  it 
shall  not  be  so  among  you.  But  whoso  would  be 
great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant."  Is  it 
the  word  of  a  dreamer,  an  impossible  theory  of 
greatness?  It  is  the  last  word  of  practical  wis- 
dom, the  way  to  greatness  which  must  be  accepted 
by  the  nations  as  the  only  legitimate  way,  if  ever 
an  ordered  and  happy  life  for  humanity  Is  to  come. 

Who  is  in  reality  the  great  man?  Which  is  In 
truth  the  great  nation? 

Some  years  ago,  a  newspaper  in  Paris  conducted 
a  plebiscite  on  the  question,  Who  is  the  greatest 
man  in  the  history  of  France?  Every  one  thought 
the  result  a  foregone  conclusion.  Of  course  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte  would  receive  the  majority  of 
the  votes.     But  when  the  millions  of  votes  were 


140     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

counted,  Napoleon  ran  a  very  bad  second,  and 
Louis  Pasteur  was  named  as  the  greatest  of 
Frenchmen.  Whoever  sought  greatness  more  in- 
satiably than  did  Napoleon?  Who  ever  cared 
less  for  honors,  and  more  for  service  than  Pas- 
teur? The  common  sense  of  the  mass  of  French 
people  recognized  the  truth  of  the  standard  of 
Christ. 

So  long  as  false  ideas  of  greatness  remain  to 
dazzle  nations,  so  long  will  there  be  dangers  of 
wars  like  the  present.  What  a  tragedy  in  the  re- 
cent course  of  Germany!  Seldom  has  any  nation 
gone  further  or  faster  on  the  path  toward  great- 
ness through  service  than  Germany  advanced  in 
the  decades  just  before  the  war.  In  science,  in 
education,  in  production  of  what  the  world  needed, 
in  sending  her  product  throughout  the  world,  she 
was  becoming  the  greatest  of  the  nations.  And 
then  she  turned  away  from  that  true  path  to  tread 
the  old,  discredited,  disgraceful,  pagan  path  to 
greatness  through  force  and  dominion.  It  is  one 
of  the  supreme  tragedies  of  human  history. 

The  world  will  be  safe  and  secure  in  its  peace 
only  when  nations  adopt  Christ's  principle  of 
greatness,  and  play  fair  with  it. 

Sound  internationalism  depends  absolutely  on 
the  principle,  enunciated  with  clearness  and  fre- 
quency through  the  Bible,  that  peace  depends  ever 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  141 

upon  righteousness.  "  The  work  of  righteousness 
shall  be  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness 
quietness  and  assurance  forever."  God  Is  calling 
to  a  world  that  knows  no  peace,  "  O,  that  thou 
hadst  hearkened  to  my  commandments;  then  had 
thy  peace  been  as  a  river,  and  thy  righteousness  as 
the  waves  of  the  sea." 

The  principle  of  publicity,  of  open  diplomacy, 
of  the  doing  away  with  secret  understandings  and 
treaties,  which  President  Wilson  rightly  classed 
among  the  great  conditions  of  ordered  and  lasting 
peace,  is  fundamentally  a  Christian  principle. 
"  There  Is  nothing  hidden  that  shall  not  be  re- 
vealed." *'  Speak  ye  every  man  truth  with  his 
neighbor,  for  we  are  members  one  of  another." 
When  nations  live  on  that  plane,  and  adopt  that 
law  of  conduct,  international  peace  and  order  will 
be  an  easy  achievement. 

Not  only  the  principles  underlying  Internation- 
alism are  distinctively  Christian,  but  the  very  pro- 
gram of  it  is  to  be  found  first  In  the  Gospel.  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott  has  made  the  very  interesting  sug- 
gestion that  In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  we  find 
the  very  method  advocated  by  the  League  to  En- 
force Peace  for  use  In  cases  where  disputes  arise. 
Christ  tells  his  followers,^  in  case  disagreements 
arise,  that  the  injured  person  shall  first  go  and  talk 

iMatt.  18: 15-17. 


142     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

over  the  matter  with  the  other  party  to  the  trouble, 
trying  to  reach  an  adjustment;  that  failing,  he  is 
to  take  one  or  two  witnesses  or  arbitrators  with 
him;  the  next  step  is  to  tell  the  matter  to  the  whole 
community;  ^  and,  if  that  fails,  he  is  to  count  the 
injurer  as  a  "  heathen  man  or  a  publican,"  hav- 
ing nothing  to  do  with  him. 

Here  is  the  program  exactly;  first  diplomacy, 
attempting  to  adjust  the  dispute  between  the  two 
nations  involved;  then  arbitration,  reference  to 
disinterested  parties;  then,  submission  of  the  case 
to  the  judgment  and  opinion  of  the  world;  and 
finally,  non-intercourse,  economic  pressure.  It  is 
significant  that  Christ  does  not  go  on  to  sanction 
the  final  step  of  the  use  of  physical  force.  May 
we  assume  that  if  nations  put  this  program  into 
effect,  in  an  ordered  and  decisive  way,  the  final 
resort  to  force  would  never  be  needed?  In  any 
event,  Jesus  does  not  forbid  it. 

Internationalism  has  no  sound  and  firm  basis 
save  in  Christian  principles  and  ideals.  And  no 
one  can  take  the  principles  and  ideals  of  Jesus  and 
His  Gospel  as  authoritative  throughout  the  range 
of  human  interests,  and  not  believe  in  an  interna- 
tional order,  organized  and  maintained  for  the 
preservation  of  peace  through  the  administration 

1  "  Ecclesia  "    here   evidently   means   "  assembly  "    rather   than 
"  church." 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  143 

of  justice,  as  both  possible  and  necessary.  All  the 
demands  now  vocal  for  disarmament,  for  great- 
ness through  service,  for  the  rights  of  weaker  na- 
tions, for  the  substitution  of  reason  for  might,  and 
law  for  war,  for  the  putting  International  Inter- 
course on  a  human  Instead  of  an  animal  basis,  all 
these  are  thoroughly  Christian  In  spirit  and  mean- 
ing and  aim.  And  no  one  who  sincerely  professes 
to  be  a  Christian  should  fall  to  enlist  among  those 
who  propose  to  bring  In  a  new  order  of  righteous- 
ness, and  goodwill,  and  human  brotherliness. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    WAR   AND   INTERNATIONALISM 

What  relation  has  this  war  to  the  movement 
toward  an  international  order?  How  will  it,  and 
how  does  it,  affect  the  coming  of  that  era  of  or- 
ganized justice,  peace,  and  good-will  for  which 
we  long  and  hope  and  pray  and  work? 

Judged  superficially,  the  war  may  seem  to  be  the 
greatest  blow  ever  dealt  the  cause  of  international- 
ism. It  broke  the  bands  that  held  mankind 
united.  It  came  as  a  sudden  and  fierce  negation 
of  all  that  lovers  of  humanity  had  confidently  af- 
firmed and  expected,  a  brutal  denial  of  the  whole 
program  of  international  good-will,  justice,  and 
order.  The  delicate  fabric  of  international  law, 
woven  so  slowly  and  with  such  infinite  pains,  was 
shattered  in  a  moment. 

It  seemed  a  tragedy,  or  a  comedy,  according  to 
one's  point  of  view,  that  just  as  the  war  broke 
there  was  in  session  at  Constance  the  first  confer- 
ence of  Christians  of  all  nations  in  the  interests  of 
international  peace  and  goodwill.  The  little 
group  was  scattered  like  a  leaf  blov/n  before  a 
furious  gale.     One  of  the  delegates  remarked  that 

144 


THE  WAR  145 

apparently  war  could  stop  a  peace  conference  far 
more  easily  than  a  peace  conference  could  stop 
war.  Some  of  us  recall  vividly  the  wonder  and 
amusement  in  the  faces  of  the  German  officers  with 
whom  we  rode  on  our  way  back  from  that  hur- 
ried and  broken  meeting,  when  we  told  them  why 
we  had  come  to  Constance.  Evidently  they  re- 
garded it  as  the  richest  variety  of  joke  that  men 
and  women  had  gone  to  Germany  to  hold  a  peace 
conference  in  the  summer  of  19 14. 

One  of  the  first  men  to  greet  me  on  my  return 
to  America  that  summer  was  a  friend  of  the  posi- 
tivistic  type,  who  had  always  scorned  idealistic 
movements.  With  an  air  of  judicial  satisfaction 
he  said,  "  Well,  I  guess  you  peace  people  will  keep 
quiet  for  awhile  now." 

It  may  seem  the  sudden  and  violent  end  of  all 
faith  and  effort  in  the  cause  of  internationahsm. 
Germany  has  cast  international  morality  to  the 
winds.  She  broke  the  treaty  safeguarding  Bel- 
gium, the  law  of  safety  and  search  at  sea,  the  cus- 
tom of  respect  for  neutral  rights,  her  own  agree- 
ment not  to  use  poison  gas  in  warfare,  the  ancient 
understanding  that  trees  at  least  were  to  be  spared, 
—  embodied  in  the  old  law  of  the  Hebrew  peo- 
ple.^ It  seemed  as  if  she  had  thrown  interna- 
tional justice  in  the  scrapheap. 

iCf.  Deut.  2o:i9ff. 


146     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

And  the  other  nations  followed  her  lead,  com- 
pelled to  do  so  in  order  to  meet  her  attacks.  It 
is  a  relief  to  know  that,  in  the  matter  of  the  use  of 
poison  gas  at  least,  America  is  technically  guilt- 
less, and  Great  Britain  only  less  so.  At  the  first 
Hague  Conference,  proposals  were  made  that  the 
nations  agree  not  to  use  poisonous  gases  in  war- 
fare. Admiral  Mahan  put  forward  a  strong  ar- 
gument against  such  an  agreement,  and  America 
and  Great  Britain  declined  to  join  in  such  an  un- 
derstanding. Other  nations,  including  Germany, 
entered  into  a  positive  agreement,  however,  to 
abstain  from  the  use  of  gas.  Later  Great 
Britain  gave  her  adherence  to  the  agreement; 
but  the  United  States  never  did  so. 

But  the  plain  fact  is  that  international  law  and 
understanding  have  been  violated  and  broken  very 
generally  in  the  stress  of  this  merciless  war.  Re- 
prisals have  been  made,  mines  sown  at  sea,  vessels 
illegally  held,  blockades  declared  in  violation  of 
the  common  law  of  warfare;  and  it  might  well 
seem  as  if  international  justice  and  order  had  suf- 
fered like  the  invaded  territories,  the  damage  be- 
ing beyond  hope  of  restoration. 

But  this  is  only  a  surface  view  of  the  situation. 
Certain  great  facts  stand  out  which  lead  us  to  de- 
clare that  this  war  is,  in  reality,  the  greatest  for- 
ward step  ever  taken  toward  internationalism. 


THE  WAR  147 

First  of  all,  Germany's  action  In  precipitating 
the  war  Is  a  mighty  testimony  to  the  growing  force 
of  the  movement  toward  an  International  order. 

Germany,  as  a  state,  has  always  been  distrustful 
of  any  peace  propaganda,  of  any  real  movement 
toward  an  International  understanding.  Hope- 
lessly committed  to  the  Imperialistic  Idea  of  world 
politics,  the  leaders  of  Germany  have  seemed  un- 
able to  see  a  world  organized  on  the  basis  of  free 
and  friendly  cooperation  as  either  possible  or  de- 
sirable. Germany  has  stood  as  the  great  cham- 
pion of  the  doctrine  of  absolute  and  Irresponsible 
national  sovereignty. 

Just  as  our  Civil  War  was  a  proof  of  the  grow- 
ing sense  of  nationalism  in  this  country,  a  senti- 
ment so  strong  that  the  advocates  of  State's  Rights 
felt  compelled  to  fight  for  the  existence  of  their 
doctrine  before  It  was  too  late;  so  this  war  proves 
the  growing  power  In  the  world  of  the  ideals  of 
internationalism,  a  power  so  evidently  on  the  in- 
crease that  the  rulers  of  Prussia  felt  forced  to  fight 
for  the  principle  of  irresponsible  nationalism  be- 
fore It  was  too  late.  Whether  or  no  they  saw  It 
clearly,  they  felt  It  powerfully,  that  the  cause  of 
internationalism  was  closely  and  Inseparably 
united  with  the  cause  of  democracy,  with  all  those 
social  developments  and  movements  and  forces 
which   they   feared  most  in   their   own    country. 


148     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

The  plunge  into  war  Is  a  strong  proof  of  the  grow- 
ing power  of  the  movement  toward  international- 
ism, in  the  success  of  which  the  rulers  of  Germany 
would  have  found  their  downfall. 

We  see  also,  very  clearly,  that  the  violations  and 
disregard  of  international  law  and  agreement  on 
the  part  of  the  nations  opposed  to  Germany  are  a 
passing  phase  of  their  conduct,  not  a  permanent 
characteristic  of  it.  In  very  large  part  they  have 
taken  to  such  practices  In  self-defense.  To  sink  a 
submarine  on  sight  may  be  technically  a  violation 
of  sea-law,  but  it  Is  the  only  way  to  meet  the  Illegal 
attacks  of  the  submarines.  To  bomb  unfortified 
towns  in  Germany  may  be  the  only  way  to  bring 
home  to  German  consciousness  the  iniquity  of  the 
air  raids  they  have  practiced  against  English  and 
French  towns. 

A  story,  credited  to  Mr.  Zangwill,  Illustrates 
clearly  the  difference  between  Germany's  original 
and  flagrant  breaches  of  International  law,  and  the 
violation  of  law  and  custom  In  which  the  Entente 
nations  have  Indulged  in  return.  The  story  is  of 
a  Doukhobor,  one  of  the  many  who  emigrated 
from  Russia  to  Canada  to  escape  religious  perse- 
cution. One  of  the  tenets  of  the  sect, —  so  the 
story  goes, —  Is  to  wear  as  little  clothing  as  pos- 
sible. One  very  hot  day  a  Doukhobor  strolled 
into  a  Canadian  town  quite  naked.     A  policeman, 


THE  WAR  149 

catching  sight  of  him,  started  to  arrest  him.  The 
Doukhobor  fled  across  the  fields,  and  the  police- 
man followed.  The  policeman  was  clad  in  full 
uniform,  and  the  heat  soon  became  unbearable. 
He  noticed  that  he  was  losing  ground.  So  he  cast 
aside  his  helmet,  later  his  coat,  then  his  shoes  and 
stockings,  so  one  garment  after  another,  until, 
when  he  caught  the  Doukhobor,  he  was  in  the 
same  unclothed  condition.  The  Doukhobor  said, 
"  You're  just  as  bad  as  I  am."  But  the  policeman 
repHed,  "  No;  for  you  left  off  your  clothes  because 
you  chose  to  do  it,  and  I  threw  mine  off  only  that 
I  might  catch  you ;  and  now,  having  caught  you,  I 
shall  go  back  and  pick  them  up  and  put  them  on 
again." 

It  Is  not  a  partisan  judgment  when  we  say  that, 
on  the  whole,  the  Entente  nations  have  violated 
international  agreements  only  reluctantly,  In  self- 
defense,  and  with  full  purpose,  deepening  with  the 
course  of  the  war,  to  resume  the  full  practice  of 
International  justice,  and  to  establish  It  more  firmly 
for  the  world's  life. 

Many  have  noted  a  further  evidence  of  the 
power  of  internationalism,  as  revealed  in  the  cir- 
cumstances and  conduct  of  the  war.  This  is  In  the 
fact  that  never  before  have  nations,  going  to  war, 
shown  such  eager  concern  to  justify  their  conduct 
In  the  eyes  of  the  world.     The  flood  of  White 


150     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

Books,  Red  Books,  and  other  documents,  each 
making  out  a  case  for  some  nation  or  group  of 
nations,  showed  an  unprecedented  regard  for  ''  the 
opinion  of  mankind."  When  was  there  another 
war  in  which  every  participant  was  eager  to  prove 
that  the  war  was,  on  its  own  part,  defensive?  In 
the  speeches  and  writings  of  German  leaders,  dur- 
ing the  first  two  or  three  years  of  fighting,  one 
phrase  was  always  to  be  found,  "  this  war,  which 
was  forced  upon  us."  Why  so  elaborately,  so 
protestingly  eager  to  disown  their  work,  had  not 
the  sense  of  international  justice  grown  to  a  great- 
ness which  demanded  at  least  the  semblance  of 
respect? 

We  note  again  that  the  war  has  emphasized, 
with  increasing  force,  that  for  which  men  of  inter- 
national mind  have  been  contending. 

A  striking  article,  worthy  of  the  widest  circula- 
tion, appeared  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Christian 
Work,  entitled  "  Have  the  Peace  Societies 
Failed?  "  It  admitted  that  many  think  that  the 
Peace  Societies  have  utterly  failed;  and  then  went 
on  to  show  that,  one  after  another,  the  great  ob- 
jects for  which  the  Peace  Societies  have  been  striv- 
ing during  the  past  two  decades  have  been  avowed 
by  the  great  nations  as  the  ends  for  which  they  are 
fighting;  that,  moreover,  the  strongest  conscious- 
ness of  the  real  moral  aims  of  the  war  is  to  be 


THE  WAR  151 

found  precisely  In  those  nations  In  which  the  Peace 
Societies  have  been  most  active  and  most  effective. 
Can  a  movement  be  said  to  have  failed  when  the 
greatest  nations  adopt  its  ideals  as  their  own,  and 
declare  that  they  will  fight  to  the  end  of  their  re- 
sources rather  than  abandon  those  ideals? 

I  have  spoken  of  the  friend  who  greeted  me  on 
my  return  from  Constance  In  the  summer  of  19 14, 
with  the  remark,  "  I  guess  you  peace  people  will 
keep  quiet  for  a  while  now."  The  retort  was  ob- 
vious, "  Suppose  you  had  been  warning  a  group  of 
men  for  years  that  a  certain  course  of  action  would 
lead  to  disaster,  and  they  kept  on,  and  disaster 
came;  would  you  feel  ashamed  of  your  warn- 
ings?" 

The  war  has  made  a  sane  and  right  internation- 
alism seem  more  desirable,  more  indispensable, 
than  ever  it  seemed  in  the  past. 

Most  important  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the  war 
has  assumed  more  and  more  the  character  of  a 
conflict  in  the  interests  of  internationalism. 

The  nations  opposed  to  Germany  entered  the 
war,  and  have  stayed  in  It,  because  they  know  it 
to  be  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the  organized 
forces  of  humanity,  to  punish  an  International 
crime,  and  to  vindicate  International  justice. 

If  a  nation  can  do  what  Germany  has  done  to 
Belgium,  and  escape  punishment  for  it,  then  inter- 


152     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

national  law  is  a  mockery.  It  is  not  simply  Bel- 
gium that  is  interested  in  having  that  wrong 
righted;  it  is  all  mankind.  It  was  in  defense  of 
internationalism  that  America  entered  the  war. 
We  had  our  own  wrongs  to  avenge,  our  own  rights 
to  maintain,  our  own  dangers  to  avert.  But  no 
one  who  knows  the  mind  and  soul  of  the  American 
people  can  doubt  that  we  would  never  have  gone 
into  the  war  for  these  reasons  only.  We  went  in 
as  a  united  people,  ready  for  any  sacrifice,  because 
we  realized  that  the  whole  cause  of  international 
law  and  order  was  at  stake.  Other  nations  had 
other  issues  to  fight  out  with  the  Teutons.  France 
had  Alsace-Lorraine  and  the  wrong  of  1870. 
Britain  had  the  danger  to  her  sea-power,  and  to 
her  interests  in  the  East.  Italy  had  her  interests 
around  the  Adriatic.  But  the  only  real  issue  be- 
tween America  and  Germany  is  the  issue  of  inter- 
nationalism. We  believe  in  It,  she  never  has. 
We  see  that  the  world  can  never  again  be  safe  if 
such  acts  as  the  violation  of  Belgium  can  be  safe 
and  profitable. 

The  German  Empire  has  been  built  up  by  wars 
of  aggression,  planned  In  advance,  deliberately 
started  at  chosen  times,  from  each  of  which  the 
military  power  of  Germany  has  emerged  with 
great  profit  In  territory  and  resources.  Society  Is 
not  safe  so  long  as  lawbreaking  is  clearly  profit- 


THE  WAR  153 

able.  Germany  might  never  have  acted  as  she 
did  in  x-lugust,  19 14,  had  she  not  found  such  self- 
seeking,  unscrupulous,  deliberately  aggressive  con- 
duct toward  other  states  safe  and  enormously 
profitable  in  1870,  in  1866,  and  in  the  time  of 
Frederick  the  Great.  For  the  sake  of  Germany 
herself,  and  for  the  sake  of  all  the  world  of  our 
hopes,  we  must  make  clear  once  for  all  that, —  to 
use  the  forcible  language  of  the  street, —  no  nation 
can  do  such  things  and  get  away  with  it. 

The  war  has  also  come  increasingly  to  assume 
the  character  of  an  attempt  to  establish  an  inter- 
national order,  firmer  and  more  highly-developed 
than  the  past  has  ever  known.  President  Wilson 
has  made  this  central  in  his  statements  of  the  aims 
of  the  war.  Other  statesmen  have  come  to  ever 
clearer  and  more  positive  conviction  that  out  of 
the  war  must  come  a  League  of  Free  Nations,  or- 
ganized to  secure  peace  through  the  administra- 
tion of  international  justice.  The  war  has  thus 
come  to  be  not  only  an  attempt  to  vindicate  inter- 
national order  as  it  was,  but  a  determined  effort  to 
establish  International  order  as  the  world  has 
never  yet  seen  it.  Moreover,  the  present  strug- 
gle, as  the  British  Premier  has  pointed  out,  is  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  world  to  enforce  peace 
against  an  offender.  The  winning  of  the  war  is 
thus  vital  to  the  establishment  of  any  league  of 


154    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

nations;  for  how  can  any  league  of  nations  hope  to 
maintain  justice  and  peace  in  the  future  if  they 
cannot  now  enforce  their  claims  against  an  of- 
fender? 

Under  the  stress  and  sacrifice  of  war  thought 
and  planning  have  gone  far.  Men  and  nations 
are  ready,  as  never  before,  to  dare  set  up  an  inter- 
national order  which  shall  be  strong  enough  to 
compel  respect.  They  are  determined  that,  so 
far  as  in  them  lies,  war  shall  be  prevented  for  the 
future. 

The  war  Is  also  showing  us  the  cost  of  interna- 
tionalism, awakening  us  to  the  seriousness  of  the 
cause  of  International  peace  and  justice. 

The  fatal  defect  of  movements  for  International 
justice,  peace,  and  goodwill  in  the  past  has  been 
their  fluency,  their  easy  optimism,  their  assump- 
tion that  human  nature  and  the  nature  of  human 
society  could  be  changed  over  night  by  a  stream  of 
good  talk.  We  are  learning  to  see  a  new  strength 
and  sternness  In  that  word  "  peace-makers."  To 
make  peace  Is  to  do  a  supremely  difficult  thing. 
It  costs  blood  and  treasure  and  the  sacrifice  of  all 
except  honor.  Many  have  bandied  the  phrase, 
"  Peace  at  any  price."  Well,  we  are  learning 
what  a  fearful  price  must  be  paid  for  It;  and  our 
glib  phrases  fade  at  the  vision.  There  is  no  easy 
path  to  peace  and  plenty  and  safety  and  right- 


THE  WAR  155 

eousness.  We  have  talked  as  if,  any  day,  all  men 
might  suddenly  say,  "  Come,  let  us  stop  being 
fools,  and  henceforth  live  In  perpetual  peace  and 
goodwill.'*  New  light  has  come  to  us  on  the  mat- 
ter of  suffering;  we  have  begun  to  discern  it  as  part 
of  the  basic  fabric  of  all  achievement.  We  see 
the  path  to  justice  and  peace  and  stable  interna- 
tional order  as  a  terribly  hard  and  sacrificial  road, 
a  Via  Sacra  because  It  is  a  Via  Dolorosa.  Men 
instinctively  rate  values  in  terms  of  cost.  It  may 
be  that  the  awful  cost  of  this  war  was  necessary 
to  make  men  value  International  jus^ice  and  peace 
highly  enough  to  be  willing  to  do  the  hard  thinking 
and  work  and  make  the  personal  and  national  sac- 
rifices essential  to  the  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance of  a  right  International  order. 

The  war  is  also  actually  w^orklng  to  bring  into 
organized  and  unified  life  the  progressive,  peace' 
loving  nations. 

The  President  has  said,  simply  but  with  deep 
meaning,  that  we  and  our  allies  are  now  "  eating 
at  a  common  table,'' —  a  fact  which  brings  our 
International  relationships  Into  Intimate  touch  with 
the  deepest  sanctities  of  our  religion.  The  Son 
of  Man  Is  breaking  bread  to  us  all.  There  Is  a 
pooling  of  Interest,  and  a  complete  Interchange  of 
need  and  resources,  In  our  shipping,  our  armed 
forces,  our  varied  supplies.     We  are  forgetting 


156     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

old  animosities,  and  becoming  ashamed  of  prej- 
udices that  have  lingered  long.  The  Briton,  the 
Frenchman,  the  Italian, —  we  estimate  them  now 
by  their  noblest,  not  by  their  most  unpleasant 
traits.  There  has  come  about  the  organization 
of  an  Allied  Council,  and  the  appointment  of  a 
single  commander,  which  is  the  nearest  approach 
in  practice  the  world  has  yet  made  to  the  creation 
of  an  international  police  force.  Especially  sig- 
nificant is  the  cordial  relationship  growing  up  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  America.  It  is  well  that 
we  remind  ourselves  that  such  a  relationship  can- 
not go  too  far.  Our  natural  course  is  to  live  in 
extreme  friendliness  with  Britain.  Many  ele- 
ments unite  to  make  this  the  natural  order.  We 
have  a  common  language,  common  political  tradi- 
tions and  ideals,  a  common  literary  heritage.  We 
are  both  vitally  concerned  in  the  use  of  the  seas, 
and  in  seeing  that  international  trade  is  kept  clear 
and  open.  We  have  a  common  interest  in  this 
Western  hemisphere, —  an  interest  shared  by  no 
other  great  w^orld  power.  For  Canadi  comes  un- 
der the  operation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  or  that 
doctrine  Is  worthless.  Moreover  It  is  the  fact 
that  Great  Britain  has  a  vital  interest  In  this  con- 
tinent that  has  given  the  Monroe  Doctrine  its 
force;  for  the  silent  support  of  Britain's  navy  has 
been  the  biting  edge  of  the   Monroe   Doctrine. 


THE  WAR  157 

We  have  proved  that  we  are  good  neighbors,  as 
that  unfortified  border  of  3000  miles,  and  the 
peace  between  us  for  more  than  a  century,  con- 
clusively prove.  Finally,  we  are  more  akin  in  our 
concern  for  democracy  and  for  a  sane,  strong  in- 
ternationalism than  are  any  other  two  peoples. 
At  every  stage  America  has  found  strong  support 
from  Great  Britain  in  the  outworking  of  her  na- 
tional and  international  ideals, —  save  at  the  pe- 
riod of  our  Civil  War.  It  was  the  support  of  the 
better  elements  of  British  society  which  made  pos- 
sible the  winning  of  our  Revolution  against  a  Ger- 
man prince  who  misrepresented  the  spirit  of  the 
kingdom  over  which  he  ruled.  Again  and  again 
has  our  country  felt  the  quiet  comradeship  of 
Great  Britain.  It  is  perhaps  the  greatest  single 
source  of  hope  for  a  good  and  just  future  for  hu- 
manity that  the  war  has  brought  our  two  nations 
into  relations  so  cordial  and  thoroughgoing. 

The  war  is  a  war  for  Internationalism,  to  de- 
fend what  we  have  of  it,  and  to  secure  a  larger 
measure  of  it  than  we  have  ever  dared  attempt  to 
realize. 

An  American  in  France  noticed  a  little  group  of 
American  soldiers.  One  of  them,  a  lanky  youth, 
obviously  from  the  mountain  country  of  Tennessee 
or  Kentucky,  was  handling  a  rifle  familiarly,  and 
talking  about  fighting  and  being  wounded.     The 


158     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

observer  said  In  surprise,  *'  How  do  you  know  so 
much  about  war?  You  are  too  young  to  have 
been  in  any  war,  aren't  you?"  With  a  charac- 
teristic drawl,  he  replied,  "  Wall,  this  Is  the  first 
public  war  I  ever  was  in."  Beneath  the  uncon- 
scious drollery,  the  revelation  of  conditions  of 
border  feuds,  lies  a  big  truth.  This  is  about  the 
first  public  war  the  world  has  known,  the  first  war 
waged  not  for  private  interests,  but  for  the  public 
good,  for  the  hopes  and  faiths  and  needs  of  hu- 
manity. Here  is  one  of  the  greatest  reasons  why 
the  war  had  to  be  pressed  to  full  and  final  victory, 
why  no  premature  peace  could  be  tolerated.  This 
war  was  Inextricably  bound  up  with  the  cause  of  in- 
ternatlonahsm,  which  is  humanity's  hope  for  the 
future.  The  triumph  of  Germany  would  have 
meant  a  growing  imperialism;  an  indecisive  out- 
come would  have  meant  a  perpetuation,  in  far 
worse  degree,  of  the  old  International  anarchy. 
The  triumph  of  the  humane  group  of  nations 
means  the  possibility  of  a  free  and  ordered  life  for 
mankind.  In  which  the  souls  of  men  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  go  about  their  legitimate  business  of  art 
and  work  and  play  and  love  and  religion,  un- 
hampered by  the  heavy  hand  of  militarism  and 
imperialism. 

The  war  means  that,  for  better  or  for  worse, 
the  nations  have  been  drawn,  or  thrown,  together; 


THE  WAR  159 

and  "  what  God  hath  joined,  let  not  man  put  asun- 
der." 

Just  as  our  {^^reat  Civil  War  brought  to  final  and 
splendid  realization  the  Ideal  of  a  united  nation, 
so  this  war  must  bring  the  realization  of  the  Ideal 
of  a  united  world,  In  which  we  shall  see, —  not 
now  for  one  nation,  but  for  all  the  nations  that 
make  up  the  common  life  of  humanity, — "  union 
and  liberty,  now  and  forever,  one  and  insepar- 
able." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    CHURCH   AND    INTERNATIONALISM 

It  Is  Christian  Internationalism  that  we  have 
been  discussing;  not  merely  the  principles  and 
Ideals  and  program  of  an  international  order,  as 
they  may  and  should  appeal  to  all  right-minded 
men;  but  the  cause  of  Internationalism  as  some- 
thing which  should  appeal  with  peculiar  force  to 
men  who  believe  In  God  and  find  Him  revealed 
In  Jesus  Christ. 

In  such  a  discussion  the  question  of  the  relation 
of  the  church  to  the  cause  becomes  of  vital  Impor- 
tance. Religion  has  ever  been  one  of  the  might- 
iest forces  at  work  among  men.  The  church,  or- 
ganized religion,  Is  a  potent  factor  in  social  evolu- 
tion. Once  get  It  actively  interested  in  any  move- 
ment, make  Its  potencies  actual,  and  it  can  accom- 
plish great  things. 

If  the  church  Is  true  to  her  own  great  Ideals, 
set  before  her  by  her  Master,  If  she  is  responsible 
to  the  true  spirit  within  her,  and  has  the  ear  where- 
with to  "  hear  what  the  Spirit  Is  saying  unto  the 
churches,"  she  will  see  and  seize  this  movement 

1 60 


THE  CHURCH  i6i 

toward  Internationalism  as  peculiarly  her  own,  her 
own  because  of  what  she  can  do  for  it,  and,  no  less, 
because  of  what  it  may  do  for  her. 

The  church  can  contribute  elements  of  power 
immensely,  even  vitally  important,  elements  so 
great  and  strong  that  the  success  or  failure  of 
the  movement  toward  a  firmer  and  better  interna- 
tional life  may  hang  on  what  the  church  does  or 
fails  to  do. 

The  church  can  aid  greatly  by  helping  to  pro- 
vide certain  indispensable  conditions  of  success. 
It  can  give  to  the  cause  of  Internationalism  a  Sanc- 
tion, a  Spirit,  and  a  Dynamic. 

We  have  seen,  in  our  discussion  of  the  Prob- 
lems Confronting  Internationalism,  that  one  of  the 
most  serious  needs  is  that  of  providing  adequate 
sanctions  for  the  World-Organization.  We  men- 
tioned some  which  would  have  great  force,  the  eco- 
nomic, the  military.  Without  these  the  interna- 
tional order  would  never  be  strong  and  permanent. 
But  we  saw  also  that  something  more  was  needed, 
an  appeal  to  the  imagination,  a  challenge  to  the 
affections,  something  to  do  for  the  international 
cause  what  the  flag  does  for  patriotism.  Men's 
hearts  must  be  caught  and  held,  If  they  are  ever  to 
give  to  the  world-order  that  high  and  firm  loyalty 
without  which  It  must  surely  fail. 

Here  the  church  has  it  in  its  power  to  help 


1 62     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

mightily.  For  it  can  give  to  the  International  Or- 
der something  of  the  glory  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

All  through  the  long  ages  during  which  the 
Christian  ideal  was  slowly  taking  shape  and  gath- 
ering force,  the  hope  of  a  coming  Kingdom  has 
glowed  with  inspiring  grace  before  the  eyes  of  the 
men  of  God.  The  prophets  saw  its  day  and  sang 
of  its  glory.  Christ  set  it  in  the  very  center  of 
the  prayer  He  taught  His  disciples,  and  talked  of 
that  Kingdom  more  frequently  than  of  any  other 
theme.  The  church  has  had  much  to  say  about 
*'  salvation,"  but  the  Master  spoke  of  the  "  King- 
dom of  God  "  ten  times  for  every  mention  He 
made  of  salvation.  The  Bible  ends  with  glowing 
pictures  of  that  Kingdom  of  God  realized  on 
earth.  The  hymns  of  the  church  are  bright  with 
its  glory.  The  true  Christian  feels  his  heart- 
loyalty  claimed  above  all  by  this  Kingdom  that  is 
to  come.  He  is  ready  to  give  to  it  an  allegiance 
higher  and  deeper  than  that  which  he  gives  to  any 
other  cause  on  earth. 

But  the  Christian  has  never  had  a  clear  and  as- 
sured answer  to  the  question,  What  is  this  great 
Kingdom  of  God  for  which  you  are  to  work  and 
to  pray  and  to  spend  yourself?  Is  it  heaven,  some 
city  of  God  lying  afar  in  an  after  life?  So 
thought  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  and  so  many  others 


THE  CHURCH  163 

have  thought,  transferring  their  loyalty  from  pres- 
ent to  future,  and  from  earth  to  heaven.  But  the 
best  religious  sense  to-day  is  alive  to  the  conviction 
that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  a  state  of  society 
on  earth.  We  see  that  the  glowing  picture  of  the 
Civitas  Dei,  set  before  us  in  the  final  pages  of  the 
Bible,  is  a  picture  of  a  society  of  men  here  on  the 
earth,  a  Civilization  to  be  built  up  here.  Chris- 
tians see  now  that  to  sing  de  contemptu  mundi  is  to 
sing  as  no  Christian  should.  That  Kingdom  for 
which  we  pray  and  labor  must  be  something  here 
on  earth. 

Is  it  the  church?  So  some  have  thought.  But 
few  Christians  in  any  age  have  taken  the  church 
as  equivalent  to  the  Kingdom,  and  therefore  as 
claiming  their  supreme  allegiance.  The  best 
Christian  insight  has  always  clearly  discerned  the 
fact  that  the  church  is  the  agent  of  the  Kingdom, 
the  means  of  which  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  the 
end,  the  scaffolding  necessary  to  the  erection  of 
the  structure,  but  to  disappear  when  the  work  is 
completed;  for  In  that  City  of  God  no  temple  is 
to  be  found. 

Can  we  identify  the  Kingdom  of  God  with  the 
nation?  The  Jew  found  no  difficulty  In  making 
such  an  identification.  To  him  the  Kingdom  of 
God  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  realized 
glory  of  Israel.     In  the  intensity  of  nationalistic 


1 64    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

feeling  evoked  by  the  war,  It  may  be  possible  for 
some  to  see  no  higher  conception  of  the  Kingdom 
that  Is  to  come  than  a  glorified  America,  or  Brit- 
ain, or  Germany.  1  heard  a  leading  churchman 
say  not  long  ago  that  the  highest  function  of  the 
church  in  the  future  must  be  the  exaltation  of  pa- 
triotism, that  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the  na- 
tion is  the  highest  object  toward  which  churchmen 
can  direct  their  loyalty.  But  there  are  few  true 
Christians  who  do  not  see  and  feel  that  such  a 
definition  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  would  degrade 
the  American  Christian  church  to  the  low  level  of 
the  German  churchmanship  revealed  In  ''  Hurrah 
and  Hallelujah,"  or  In  the  blind  nationalistic  zeal 
of  the  signers  of  that  amazing  declaration  put 
forth  by  the  German  churchmen  and  professors  in 
the  opening  days  of  the  war. 

None  of  these  conceptions  will  serve  the  best, 
present-day  mind  with  regard  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Where  then  shall  we  find  it?  Suppose  we 
could  see  In  this  proposed  International  Organiza- 
tion, this  World-State,  the  political  expression  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God!  And  why  should  we  not? 
It  would  be  the  fulfillment  of  the  Magnificat  on  the 
broadest  and  grandest  scale  possible,  this  free 
union  of  free  nations  to  secure  world-wide  justice 
and  peace,  and  to  make  mankind  a  brotherhood;  it 
would  be  the  best  possible  realization,  in  terms  of 


THE  CHURCH  165 

actual,  concrete  living,  of  the  great  ideals  of  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  of  Jesus  and  Paul  and 
the  seer  on  Patmos.  What  is  there,  in  the  whole 
range  of  the  Christian  imagination,  that  can  so 
fully  and  nobly  realize  the  dream  of  a  Kingdom  of 
God  come  true  among  men,  as  can  this  installation 
of  an  international  order,  a  loyalty  free  from  all 
alloy  of  competition,  narrowness,  and  selfishness, 
a  loyalty  worthy  of  those  who  claim  to  be  follow- 
ers of  the  Son  of  Man? 

If  once  the  church  can  claim  this  cause  of  inter- 
nationalism as  its  own,  a  powerful  sanction  will 
be  given  to  it;  something  of  the  majesty  and  glory 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  will  attach  to  the  rising 
walls  of  the  international  order.  The  mighty 
force  of  Christian  loyalty,  the  force  which  inspired 
the  hosts  of  martyrs  and  apostles  and  missionaries, 
will  be  set  at  work  for  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  the  international  order. 

No  one  who  looks  deeper  than  the  surface,  and 
sees  things  as  they  are,  can  fail  to  discern  the 
power  that  has  been  set  free  in  the  service  of  the 
Entente  nations,  by  the  conviction  that  they  are 
fighting  for  something  bigger  and  more  honorable 
and  more  commanding  than  any  nationalistic  inter- 
ests. It  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  value,  just 
as  a  military  asset,  of  that  consciousness  that,  on 
our  side,  this  war  is  a  crusade  for  the  sake  of  all 


1 66     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

humanity.  Such  a  realization  comes  close  to  the 
heart  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  gives  the  church 
a  chance  that  should  be  eagerly  seized,  to  serve  as 
no  other  organization  can  serve,  to  give  to  this 
international  movement  and  to  the  international 
organization  which  shall  come  from  it  the  highest 
and  hohest  of  all  sanctions,  the  commanding  glory 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  church  can  also  render  great  aid  by  helping 
to  contribute  a  spirit,  without  which  the  Interna- 
tional movement  must  fail. 

In  that  greatest  of  all  peace  pamphlets  to  which 
we  have  referred  more  than  once,  Kant  gives  as 
one  of  the  three  essential  conditions  of  the  achieve- 
ment of  lasting  peace,  the  extension  of  the  spirit 
of  goodwill  among  all  men  and  all  nations. 

Here  the  church  can  find  its  legitimate  func- 
tion. If  the  church  of  Christ  Is  not  vitally  con- 
cerned in  the  extension  of  goodwill.  It  has  for- 
feited its  right  to  exist. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  missionary  en- 
terprise of  the  church  as  revealing  the  interna- 
tional spirit  of  Christianity.  Here  in  the  exten- 
sion of  goodwill  between  nations  and  races  Is  a 
further  opportunity  which  the  church  should  be 
eager  to  seize.  A  movement  has  been  begun 
which  aims  to  realize  this  Ideal,  to  make  the  Chris- 
tian church  a  potent  factor  In  the  extension  of 


THE  CHURCH  167 

goodwill  among  all  peoples.  It  had  its  origin  as 
already  stated  In  an  attempt  to  use  the  churches 
to  bring  about  better  and  more  cordial  relations 
between  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  in  the  early 
years  of  the  present  century.  Started  too  late  to 
aftect  very  powerfully  the  growing  distrust  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  powerless  to  stem  the  ris- 
ing tide  of  arrogant  nationalism  in  Germany,  it 
nevertheless  planted  seeds  which,  like  that  tiniest 
of  seeds  of  which  the  Master  told,  will  some  day 
grow  to  greatness  of  influence.  We  are  confident 
that  those  seeds  have  not  all  died  out,  even  in  Ger- 
many. 

The  movement  seemed  so  full  of  promise  that, 
In  the  year  19 14,  the  plan  was  made  to  extend  it 
to  all  nations,  making  it  a  world-movement.  Del- 
egates from  the  Protestant  churches  of  all  nations 
gathered  at  the  historic  town  of  Constance  In  the 
opening  days  of  August,  19 14.  The  storm  of 
war  scattered  the  gathering  almost  as  soon  as  they 
arrived.  But  those  privileged  to  attend  the  few 
and  hurried  sessions  felt  that  they  were  sharing  In 
one  of  the  great  events  of  Christian  history,  when 
men  of  many  races  and  nations  and  points  of  view 
realized  their  loyalty  to  that  which  transcended 
their  differences. 

A  conference  of  Catholic  Christians  was  to  have 
followed,  at  Liege ;  but  at  the  time  set  for  the  con- 


1 68     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

ference,  Liege  was  In  the  hands  of  the  Germans, 
and  the  host  of  the  proposed  conference,  Cardinal 
Mercier,  was  proving  that  the  true  international- 
ist is  also  the  truest  patriot. 

Out  of  this  hasty  effort  came  the  World  Alli- 
ance for  Promoting  International  Friendship 
through  the  Churches.  It  has  its  councils  in  all 
the  nations  of  Christendom,  and  its  International 
Committee  of  delegates  from  all  nations.  In 
every  country  it  numbers  among  its  supporters 
many  loyal  patriots,  and  none  disloyal  to  their 
country.  It  keeps  alive,  amid  the  blighting  con- 
ditions of  war,  the  sense  of  international  brother- 
hood and  friendship.  The  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Council  of  the  World  Alliance,  when  the  war 
broke,  immediately  published  and  distributed  a 
translation  of  the  British  White  Book,  the  first, 
perhaps  the  only,  real  attempt  to  get  the  German 
people  to  understand  the  British  view  of  the  or- 
igin of  the  war.  They  also  turned  their  attention 
to  the  care  of  British  prisoners  in  German  deten- 
tion and  prison  camps.  No  connection  is  main- 
tained, of  course,  between  the  German  council  and 
the  members  of  the  World  Alliance  in  the  coun- 
tries at  war  with  the  Central  Powers;  but  we  are 
confident  that  in  all  of  Germany  there  is  no  group 
that  will  show  itself  more  eager  to  resume  broth- 
erly relations,  once  the  war  is  over,  than  the  little 


THE  CHURCH  169 

group  connected  with  the  World  Alliance  of 
Churches. 

Quietly  the  movement  has  spread  among  the 
neutral  nations,  in  England,  and  in  America.  In 
the  United  States  it  is  giving  much  of  its  thought 
and  means  to  encouraging  goodwill  between  Amer- 
ica and  the  Orient,  and  to  furthering  the  cause  of 
intelligent  study  of  the  international  movement 
and  its  principles  and  Ideals.  Small  though  it  is, 
it  holds  within  itself  the  potency  of  the  Christian 
Church  as  an  agent  of  goodwill  and  frlendhness 
on  earth.  It  points  the  way  toward  an  adequate 
discharge  of  one  of  the  chief  duties  and  opportuni- 
ties of  the  church  in  the  cause  of  a  sane  and  last- 
ing internationalism. 

The  third  contribution  the  church  can  make  to 
this  great  cause  is  a  dynamic. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  in  which  we  dis- 
cussed the  problems  confronting  the  International 
movement,  that  the  great  need  is  faith,  resolute 
determination  to  do  the  needful  thing,  however 
chimerical  it  may  look  to  worldly  wisdom.  The 
church  is  here  on  earth  to  furnish  faith  for  the 
great  affairs  of  men.  It  is  the  proper  and  su- 
preme social  function  of  the  church  to  provide 
inspiration  for  every  good  work. 

The  church  here  in  America  ought  to  be  pour- 
ing forth  streams  of  faith  and  courage  and  hope 


I70     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

for  the  support  of  the  nation,  of  our  soldiers  and 
sailors,  of  all  who  serve  the  cause  of  our  nation 
and  its  allies.  I  believe  that  the  church  in  Amer- 
ica is  giving  mighty  aid  in  just  that  way;  that  thou- 
sands on  thousands  of  our  boys  have  been  lighting 
the  more  bravely  in  France,  and  working  the  more 
cheerfully  in  the  camps,  and  standing  by  their  tasks 
at  sea  with  greater  fortitude,  and  flying  through 
the  air  with  fuller  courage,  because  they  know  that 
the  church  at  home  is  praying  for  them,  and  sing- 
ing every  Sunday  hymns  of  stirring  patriotism  and 
of  loving  regard  for  them  in  their  absence. 
When  dark  days  have  come,  when  the  fight  has 
gone  against  us,  or  we  have  feared  the  insidious 
demoralization  of  a  "  peace  offensive,"  there  has 
come  from  our  churches  a  power  to  stiffen  the 
national  will  to  righteousness,  a  strength  from 
God  to  aid  His  men  in  His  cause. 

But  the  church  can  and  should  do  more.  It 
should  arouse  and  inspire  and  quicken  the  faith  of 
men  continually  in  the  ideals  and  principles  of 
Christian  Internationalism.  When  many  are 
shaking  their  heads,  scornfully  thrusting  aside 
proposals  for  an  international  order  as  chimerical, 
the  church  should  stand  for  the  Christian  convic- 
tion that  faith  can  move  mountains,  that  nothing 
can  oppose  successfully  God  and  His  people.  It 
should  sound  forth  in  the  ears  of  all  the  faint- 


THE  CHURCH  171 

hearted  the  splendid  message  of  the  Master, 
"  Fear  not;  only  believe."  It  Is  the  richest  and 
most  promising  opportunity  that  has  come  to  the 
church  for  ages,  to  fulfill  its  function  as  a  fountain 
of  faith. 

All  this  and  more  the  church  has  to  contribute 
to  the  cause  of  Internationalism.  But  its  relation 
to  this  movement  and  cause  Is  not  wholly  found 
In  giving.  The  church  has  something  to  gain 
from  making  the  cause  of  internationalism  Its  own. 

In  a  hearty  espousal  of  the  cause  of  internation- 
alism the  church  can  "  find  Itself."  It  has  suffered 
from  spending  itself  on  petty  tasks,  from  being 
tamed,  domesticated,  until  men  lost  Interest  In  it 
and  respect  for  It.  Once  let  the  church  feel  Itself 
the  divine  Instrument  of  a  great  and  holy  cause,  of 
Immense  significance  to  the  world,  and  days  of 
power  and  glory  and  splendor  will  come  to  her 
again.  Many  have  longed  for  a  "  revival  of 
faith."  But  what  we  need  most  Is  not  a  revival 
of  Intellectual  or  theological  opinions,  but  of  that 
faith  which  Is  a  fire  In  the  soul  and  in  the  bones, 
faith  as  an  active  principle,  the  faith  that  puts  the 
mai»tyr-splrit  Into  a  man  and  into  a  church.  Here 
is  a  cause,  a  movement,  which  holds  the  promise 
of  the  dreams  of  the  prophets,  the  visions  of  the 
apostles,  the  goal  set  by  the  Master  of  Christians. 
Let  the  church  give  herself  to  that  great  cause,  and 


172     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

she  will  find  her  soul,  and  stand  before  men  as 
worthy  of  their  respect,  and  love,  and  loyalty. 

And  here  also.  In  this  great  cause,  the  church 
will  find  her  best  chance  to  recover  her  lost  inter- 
national character.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the 
church  was  meant  to  be  a  brotherly  movement  and 
order,  transcending  all  national  and  racial  bounds, 
uniting  men  of  all  sorts  through  a  higher  loyalty. 
The  church  lost  this  character  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  It  can  never  again  stand  as  a  sin- 
gle political  entity,  dominating  the  world-life. 
But  It  may  stand  as  a  world-brotherhood,  giving 
sanctity  to  a  world-organization  of  humanity. 

All  through  the  history  of  the  church,  even  in 
the  days  when  individualism  flourished  most  pro- 
fusely, there  lingered  In  true  Christian  hearts  a 
sense  that  Christianity  was  something  that  trans- 
cended human  differences.  Part  of  that  hesita- 
tion to  take  sides  which  marked  the  American 
church  in  August,  19 14, —  so  severely  blamed  by 
some  critics, —  was  due,  as  we  have  said,  not  to 
cowardice,  or  lack  of  vision,  but  to  a  vague  sense 
that  the  Christian  church  ought  to  rise  above  par- 
tisan views,  and  nationalistic  Issues,  a  dread  lest 
the  church  forget  Its  international  character  and 
responsibilities.  That  sense  of  the  International 
character  of  Christianity  had  grown  so  strong  just 
before  the  war,  in  the  Foreign  Missionary  enter- 


THE  CHURCH  173 

prise,  the  Christian  Associations,  the  International 
Student  Movement,  and  many  other  world-organ- 
izations for  specific  religious  ends.  These  have 
been  shattered  by  the  war.  Yet  a  stronger  unity 
has  come  to  some  of  them  among  the  nations  now 
in  comradeship  of  arms.  And  sometime  the  sev- 
ered parts  of  the  Christian  church  will  come  to- 
gether again.  If  only  the  Christian  church  will 
have  the  Christian  insight  to  ally  itself  firmly  with 
the  cause  of  internationalism,  to  see  the  logical  and 
Christian  connection  between  a  League  of  Nations 
to  secure  justice  and  peace  and  the  meaning  and 
aim  of  the  church  itself,  the  greatest  and  best  day 
for  the  church  of  Christ  since  He  was  here  will 
have  dawned.  Then  will  be  brought  to  pass  the 
saying  that  is  written  in  a  letter  from  an  unknown 
writer  of  the  second  century  of  our  era, — 

"  What  the  soul  is  in  the  body,  that  are  Chris- 
tians in  the  world.  For  the  soul  holds  the  body 
together,  and  Christians  hold  the  world  together. 
This  illustrious  position  has  been  assigned  them  of 
God,  which  it  were  unlawful  for  them  ever  to  for- 
sake." 


CHAPTER  XII 

CONCLUSIONS 

Certain  great  convictions,  reactions,  and  du- 
ties face  us  as  we  reach  the  end  of  this  discussion 
and  turn  to  survey  the  country  through  which  we 
have  come. 

I.  There  are  five  convictions  that  come  to  us 
with  great  force,  the  framework  of  a  strong,  con- 
sistent, and  persistent  policy  of  internationalism. 

I.  The  first  Is  the  conviction  that  Christ  has  to 
do,  and  therefore  Christians  have  to  do,  with  the 
whole  of  life. 

A  common  view  of  the  relation  of  the  godly  to 
the  life  about  them  is  that  of  a  pilgrim  passing 
through  a  country  on  his  way  to  some  desired 
place.  He  naturally  wants  to  do  all  the  good  he 
can  as  he  passes  through,  but  he  has  no  sense  of 
responsibility  for  the  solution  of  the  social  prob- 
lems that  trouble  the  communities  through  which 
he  passes.  What  he  can  contribute  of  social  help- 
fulness is  simply  done  by  the  way. 

It  would  be  hard  to  say  whether  on  the  whole 
the  thoughts  of  Christians  about  the  future  life, 

174 


CONCLUSIONS  175 

their  tendency  to  put  the  emphasis  on  heaven 
rather  than  on  the  present  world,  have  had  a  good 
or  an  evil  effect.  Certainly  the  tendency  has  not 
been  all  to  the  good.  The  hope  of  heaven  has 
been  a  help.  But  the  exaggerated  consciousness 
of  it,  the  dwelling  upon  It  until  a  spiritual  farsight- 
edness has  developed  in  which  all  things  close  at 
hand  become  blurred,  has  been  a  source  of  un- 
measured evil.  It  has  kept  Christians  from  play- 
ing their  proper  part  in  the  life  of  the  world.  It 
Is  time  Christians  took  to  heart  what  Paul  said  in 
a  sentence  which  has  never  In  any  translation  re- 
ceived recognition  of  Its  real  significance.  In  the 
Authorized  Version  it  reads,  "  Only  let  your  con- 
versation be  as  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ.'* 
In  the  Revised  Version  it  Is  given  In  the  form, 
'*  Only  let  your  manner  of  life  be  as  becometh  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  What  Paul  really  wrote  is 
"  Act  as  citizens  In  a  manner  worthy  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ."  He  may  have  had  his 
thoughts  on  a  heavenly  citizenship;  but  we  shall 
never  be  true  to  the  mission  and  function  Christ 
set  for  us  until  we  take  the  Injunction  as  referring 
to  our  conduct  as  citizens  of  our  own  nation  and 
of  the  world. 

Critics  of  the  New  Testament  often  condemn  it 
for  Its  *'  otherworldliness."  But  it  Is  amazing 
how  practical  the  New  Testament  Is  In  its  em- 


176    CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

phasis  on  conduct  now  and  here.  It  is  Christians, 
with  their  misinterpretations,  that  are  responsible 
for  the  reputation  of  otherworldliness  which  at- 
taches to  the  Bible.  We  have  transferred  to  an- 
other world  great  sections  of  the  New  Testament 
which  plainly  refer  to  affairs  here.  We  read 
"  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him"; 
and  our  thoughts  fly  at  once  to  heaven  and  its 
glories,  awaiting  the  blessed  ones  who  die  In  the 
Lord.  Read  the  passage  and  you  will  see  that 
what  Paul  has  In  mind  is  the  wonderful  prepara- 
tion God  has  made  to  bless  men  In  this  life.  We 
talk  of  resurrection  and  heaven  as  future  possi- 
bilities. Paul  is  constantly  telling  us  that  God 
hath  raised  us,  and  hath  made  us  sit  In  the  heav- 
enly realm  with  Christ.  Ask  a  Christian  of  or- 
dinary Biblical  knowledge  what  the  Book  of  Rev- 
elation deals  with,  and  It  Is  practically  certain  that 
he  will  tell  you  that  It  deals  with  heaven.  There 
is  astonishingly  little  In  that  book  relating  to  the 
future  life.  Its  glowing  pictures  are  attempts  to 
portray  the  crowning  civilization  to  which  this 
world  may  come  under  the  lordship  and  leader- 
ship of  Christ.  The  "  New  Jerusalem  "  comes 
down  from  heaven  to  take  Its  place  on  earth. 
Ask  the  average  Christian  what  It  means  to  be 


CONCLUSIONS  177 

'*  saved,"  and  he  will  probably  answer  that  It 
means  to  "  go  to  heaven."  But  that  is  very  far 
removed  from  the  most  common  idea  in  the  New 
Testament.  There  a  saved  man  is  a  man  who  is 
living  now  in  fellowship  with  God,  and  in  line  with 
the  great  humane  and  redemptive  purposes  of 
Christ. 

There  is  a  text  of  great  significance  In  one  of 
Paul's  later  letters.  In  It  he  speaks  of  Christ  as 
*'  Saviour  of  all,  specially  of  them  that  believe." 
It  is  a  text  quite  unintelligible  on  the  basis  of  the 
old  individualistic  and  otherworldly  view  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  it  Is  full  of  light  for  one  who  has 
caught  the  new  (and  yet  the  very  oldest)  concep- 
tion of  the  mission  of  Christianity.  Is  not  that 
just  what  Christ  has  been,  and  still  Is,  doing? 
While  His  Gospel  ever  has  a  very  special  meaning 
and  value  to  those  who  believe  and  so  find  en- 
trance into  the  life  of  fellowship  with  God  In 
Christ,  It  is  lifting  up  and  redeeming  all  of  human 
life.  Hospitals,  and  settlements,  juvenile  courts, 
welfare  work,  child  conservation.  Red  Cross  ef- 
fort, and  the  rest,  are  for  all  men  and  for  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  all  society. 

We  have  come  much  nearer  to  the  mind  of 
Christ  in  moving  on  from  an  exclusively  Individ- 
ualistic to  a  socialized  interpretation  of  the  mis- 
sion and  meaning  of  Christianity.     Had  you  asked 


178     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

a  good  churchman  of  a  century  ago  what  was 
meant  by  the  text,  "  It  is  not  the  will  of  your 
Father  in  heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones 
should  perish,"  he  would  probably  hav^e  answered 
that  it  warrants  the  belief  that  all  who  die  in  in- 
fancy are  saved.  Ask  a  thoughtful  modern  Chris- 
tian, and  he  will  be  likely  to  answer  that  it  con- 
demns child  labor,  and  all  forms  of  the  exploita- 
tion of  youth. 

Decisive  proof  that  it  is  the  chief  business  of 
the  Christian  to  make  this  world  different  through 
his  Christianity  is  found  in  the  star.dard  of  char- 
acter which  Jesus  left  for  us.  What  did  He 
reckon  the  worst  of  sins?  Look  through  His 
Gospel,  and  you  can  have  no  doubt.  Two  sins 
are  there  condemned  as  no  others  are,  unless  we 
except  that  hypocrisy  which  characterized  the 
Pharisees  whom  He  so  sternly  judged.  These 
two  sins  are  unhrotherliness,  and  slackness;  and 
they  seem  closely  associated  in  His  mind.  Rob- 
ert Louis  Stevenson  got  the  Christ  point  of  view 
when  he  said  that  the  only  really  grave  sins  are  sins 
of  omission.  Jesus  visits  severest  condemnation 
on  the  men  who  are  unloving  and  the  men  who  do 
nothing. 

He  drew  for  us  just  one  picture  of  a  man  in 
hell.  What  had  the  man  done?  We  are  only 
told  of  something  he  had  failed  to  do;  he  had  neg- 


CONCLUSIONS  179 

lected  the  poor  man  at  his  gate.  For  all  we  are 
told,  Dives  may  have  been  moral,  orthodox,  pious, 
a  model  of  all  individual  virtues.  But  he  failed 
to  do  the  things  God  set  before  him,  failed  to 
affect  for  the  better  the  wrong  social  condition  con- 
fronting him;  and  Christ  chooses  him  as  the  ex- 
ample of  the  man  who  goes  to  hell. 

Jesus  painted  one  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment, 
more  solemn  and  awful  than  Michaelangelo's 
great  canvas.  He  shows  us  a  group  on  whom  Is 
pronounced  the  severe  judgment,  "  and  these  shall 
go  away  Into  eternal  punishment."  What  have 
they  done?  Nothing,  so  far  as  we  are  told.  We 
are  only  told  of  that  which  they  had  not  done. 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  ";  that  is  all. 

Christ  left  a  graphic  picture  of  a  man  who 
failed,  the  man  with  one  talent.  What  had  he 
done?  Again  the  answer  comes,  He  had  done 
nothing;  that  was  his  damning  fault.  Similar  is 
the  meaning  of  the  story  about  the  Wedding  Gar- 
ment. The  man  is  cast  into  outer  darkness,  be- 
cause of  slackness.  Even  so  the  foolish  damsels 
are  left  outside  because  of  neglect  to  provide  what 
they  might  need. 

Nothing  is  more  certain  from  these  passages, 
and  from  all  others  where  our  Lord  touches  at  all 
on  the  life-and-death  problems  of  human  charac- 
ter and  conduct,  than  that  He  meant  that  His  fol- 


178     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

a  good  churchman  of  a  century  ago  what  was 
meant  by  the  text,  "  It  Is  not  the  will  of  your 
Father  in  heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones 
should  perish,"  he  would  probably  have  answered 
that  It  warrants  the  belief  that  all  who  die  In  in- 
fancy are  saved.  Ask  a  thoughtful  modern  Chris- 
tian, and  he  will  be  likely  to  answer  that  it  con- 
demns child  labor,  and  all  forms  of  the  exploita- 
tion of  youth. 

Decisive  proof  that  It  is  the  chief  business  of 
the  Christian  to  make  this  world  different  through 
his  Christianity  is  found  in  the  standard  of  char- 
acter which  Jesus  left  for  us.  What  did  He 
reckon  the  worst  of  sins?  Look  through  His 
Gospel,  and  you  can  have  no  doubt.  Two  sins 
are  there  condemned  as  no  others  are,  unless  we 
except  that  hypocrisy  which  characterized  the 
Pharisees  whom  He  so  sternly  judged.  These 
two  sins  are  unhrotherliness,  and  slackness;  and 
they  seem  closely  associated  in  His  mind.  Rob- 
ert Louis  Stevenson  got  the  Christ  point  of  view 
when  he  said  that  the  only  really  grave  sins  are  sins 
of  omission.  Jesus  visits  severest  condemnation 
on  the  men  who  are  unloving  and  the  men  who  do 
nothing. 

He  drew  for  us  just  one  picture  of  a  man  in 
hell.  What  had  the  man  done?  We  are  only 
told  of  something  he  had  failed  to  do;  he  had  neg- 


CONCLUSIONS  179 

lected  the  poor  man  at  his  gate.  For  all  we  are 
told,  Dives  may  have  been  moral,  orthodox,  pious, 
a  model  of  all  individual  virtues.  But  he  failed 
to  do  the  things  God  set  before  him,  failed  to 
affect  for  the  better  the  wrong  social  condition  con- 
fronting him;  and  Christ  chooses  him  as  the  ex- 
ample of  the  man  who  goes  to  hell. 

Jesus  painted  one  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment, 
more  solemn  and  awful  than  MIchaelangelo's 
great  canvas.  He  shows  us  a  group  on  whom  is 
pronounced  the  severe  judgment,  "  and  these  shall 
go  away  Into  eternal  punishment."  What  have 
they  done?  Nothing,  so  far  as  we  are  told.  We 
are  only  told  of  that  which  they  had  not  done. 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  It  not  " ;  that  is  all. 

Christ  left  a  graphic  picture  of  a  man  who 
failed,  the  man  with  one  talent.  What  had  he 
done?  Again  the  answer  comes.  He  had  done 
nothing;  that  was  his  damning  fault.  Similar  is 
the  meaning  of  the  story  about  the  Wedding  Gar- 
ment. The  man  is  cast  into  outer  darkness,  be- 
cause of  slackness.  Even  so  the  foolish  damsels 
are  left  outside  because  of  neglect  to  provide  what 
they  might  need. 

Nothing  is  more  certain  from  these  passages, 
and  from  all  others  where  our  Lord  touches  at  all 
on  the  llfe-and-death  problems  of  human  charac- 
ter and  conduct,  than  that  He  meant  that  His  fol- 


i8o     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

lowers  should  make  a  difference  in  the  world  in 
which  they  live.  His  chosen  symbol,  ^'  salt,"  em- 
phasizes that  fact  with  great  force.  What  is  salt 
for,  if  not  to  flavor  that  with  which  it  mingles? 
This  world  is  not  a  mine,  or  pit,  out  of  which  the 
salt  is  to  be  extracted  for  use  elsewhere.  The 
world  is  a  mass  of  stuff  needing  to  have  salt  mixed 
with  it  for  its  flavoring  and  preserving;  and  Chris- 
tians are  "  salt  of  the  earth  "  not  In  order  to  be  set 
apart,  but  to  be  mixed  with  the  life  of  the  world 
most  intimately  for  the  healing  and  flavoring  of 
that  life,  to  give  it  wholesomeness  and  zest. 

The  *'  otherworldly  "  conception  of  the  func- 
tion of  Christianity  persists  so  tenaciously,  and 
with  so  unwholesome  an  influence,  that  we  must 
be  eternally  on  guard  against  it.  We  must  realize 
that  too  often,  in  ourselves  and  in  others,  the  em- 
phasis on  the  creed,  on  the  future  life,  on  the 
*'  preaching  of  the  simple  gospel,"  on  the  Impor- 
tance of  orthodox  opinions,  and  the  like,  is  only  a 
means  of  escape  from  the  uncomfortable  require- 
ments of  that  social  mission  and  message  which  is 
the  real  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  The  second  conviction  coming  from  our  dis- 
cussion is  that  the  history  of  God*s  dealings  with 
man  has  been  a  record  of  grozving  brotherhood, 
of  which  the  rightful  climax  is  a  brotherhood  of 
nations. 


CONCLUSIONS  i8i 

We  have  tried  to  trace,  through  the  record  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
history  of  the  Christian  church,  the  patient  effort 
of  the  Father  to  lead  His  chosen  people,  those  who 
have  had  His  clearest  light  on  their  pathway,  to 
throw  over  their  exclusiveness,  to  distrust  that 
which  set  them  apart  from  other  men,  and  enter 
into  a  fellowship  as  wide  as  humanity.  May  it 
not  be  that  the  intense  hatred  Jesus  felt  for  Phari- 
saism was  in  part  due  to  the  very  name,  which 
means   "Separated,"   "Set   apart"? 

The  revelation  of  God,  the  outworking  of  His 
divine  will  for  man,  lacks  its  capstone,  without 
the  establishment  of  Christian  Internationalism. 
The  Bible  opens  with  a  picture  of  one  man  and 
one  woman  living  in  a  garden,  sufficient  to  them- 
selves, and  with  little  to  occupy  them  but  their  indi- 
vidual fellowship  with  God.  Some  pious  people 
never  get  beyond  the  religion  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden.  But  the  Bible  gets  far  beyond  that,  until 
it  ends  with  a  great  multitude,  of  all  races  and 
tongues  and  customs  and  nationalities,  flowing  like 
a  river  of  life  through  the  streets  of  a  city,  a  world- 
community,  open  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men,  a  city  with  gates  on  all  four  sides  and  always 
open,  a  city  Including  In  its  citizenship  men  and 
women  and  children  of  all  the  nations;  the 
"  kings,"  the  governments,  find  their  place  in  it. 


1 82     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

Gold  is  not  too  precious  for  the  paving  of  its 
streets,  nor  jewels  too  costly  to  be  built  into  its 
walls;  and  a  multitude  which  no  man  can  number 
goes  singing  through  the  streets.  The  revelation 
of  God  will  be  incomplete  until  we  move  on  to  that 
climax  of  a  world-brotherhood,  a  universal  Chris- 
tian civilization  in  which  all  men  and  nations  live 
in  ordered  justice  and  reverence  and  peace. 

3.  The  third  conviction  is  that  the  cause  of  the 
people  is  the  cause  of  God,  and  leads  directly  on 
to  the  establishment  of  an  international  order. 

As  the  course  of  religious  development  has 
flowed  steadily  on  toward  a  widening  and  deepen- 
ing sense  of  brotherhood,  so  the  course  of  political 
development  has  flowed  toward  Increasing  democ- 
racy. And  the  two  great  streams  unite  to-day  to 
form  a  mighty  river  of  God's  life  for  the  people 
on  earth.  Democracy  Is  a  holy  cause,  supremely 
worth  dying  for  or  living  for. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  once  said  that  the  secret 
of  the  deathless  Influence  of  the  Bible  Is  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  "  always  on  the  side  of  man,  and  man  will 
not  let  it  die."  Christ  is  the  source  of  our  mod- 
ern political  Idealism,  no  less  than  of  our  religious 
aspirations  and  principles.  Democracy  Is  sacred; 
and  it  blends  with  true  religion  to  demand  and  to 
produce  a  sane  and  permanent  international  order. 
Neither  religion  nor  democracy  can  ever  have  Its 


CONCLUSIONS  183 

perfect  work  until  a  sane  and  strong  International 
order  Is  established.  As  American  Christians,  we 
cannot  fall  to  be  Internationalists  In  the  best  sense. 
If  we  are  not  ardent  Internationalists  we  are  fail- 
ures as  Americans,  as  Christians,  or  as  both. 

4.  The  fourth  fundamental  conviction  Is  that 
true  Internationalism,  so  far  from  being  antago- 
nistic to  patriotism,  or  inconsistent  with  it.  Is  Its 
very  fruitage. 

The  man  who  sets  patriotism  over  against  inter- 
nationalism, as  if  the  two  were  mutually  exclusive, 
or  as  if  internationalism  were  a  parasite  thriving 
on  the  life-strength  of  patriotism,  shows  that  he 
has  a  false  sense  of  both  these  great  terms. 
There  is  so  great  and  grave  misunderstanding 
right  here  that  we  may  well  stop  a  moment  to  re- 
peat and  emphasize  what  was  said  earlier,  that 
to  believe  in  an  international  order  does  not 
weaken  but  rather  fulfills  and  deepens  one's  loy- 
alty to  his  own  nation.  It  is  because  I  love  Amer- 
ica so  much  that  I  want  her  to  do  her  full  duty  to 
humanity.  It  is  because  I  have  such  confidence  in 
her  ideals  as  essentially  right,  and  In  her  power  as 
invincible,  that  I  am  willing  to  have  her  enter  the 
frankest  and  fullest  sort  of  fellowship  with  all 
nations.  It  is  only  a  false,  selfish,  unworthy  na- 
tionalism, unentitled  to  the  fine  name  of  patriot- 
ism, that  suffers  from  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of 


i84     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

a  true,  sane,  fervent  internationalism.  Patriot- 
ism that  distrusts  internationalism  always  is  con- 
cealing something  false  and  unworthy  under  its 
fine  garments. 

In  truth,  each  loyalty  to  the  larger  unit  makes 
deeper  and  finer  the  loyalty  to  the  lesser  unit.  A 
man  is  a  better  father  for  being  a  good  neighbor; 
a  better  neighbor  for  being  a  good  townsman;  a 
better  townsman  for  being  a  good  patriot;  and  a 
better  patriot  for  being  a  good  internationalist. 
Why  should  that  process  halt  at  the  boundaries  of 
the  nation?  The  doctrine  of  a  restricted  and 
selfish  nationalism  as  the  ultimate  loyalty  is  as 
unprogressive  and  as  impossible  as  was  the  doc- 
trine of  States'  Rights;  and  it  must  give  way  be- 
fore the  life  of  humanity  can  be  right  and  peace- 
ful, even  as  the  States'  Rights  doctrine  had  to  be 
decisively  put  down  before  our  national  govern- 
ment could  be  strong  and  stable.  Those  are 
wisest,  most  in  line  with  the  needs  and  the  call 
of  the  future,  who  mean  to  use  this  war  as  the 
end  of  irresponsible  nationalism,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  that  sane  and  strong  internationalism, 
in  which  true  patriotism  finds  its  fulfillment. 

5.  The  last  of  the  five  convictions  to  which  we 
have  referred  is  that  the  definite  plans  now  offered 
for  an  international  order,  and  the  movement  to 
put   them  into   effect,   are  strong   and  practical. 


CONCLUSIONS  185 

They  are  doubtless  Idealistic;  they  are  not  chi- 
merical. 

Honest  effo»*t  has  been  made  In  Chapter  VIII 
to  state  the  very  serious  difficulties  which  must  be 
met  and  mastered  before  the  cause  of  ordered 
internationalism  can  be  successful.  No  one  can 
rightly  think  that  the  international  movement  has 
an  easy  task  before  it.  Far  more  than  fine 
phrases  or  good  talk  will  be  needed  to  bring  a 
single  atom  of  its  program  Into  real  being. 

Yet  the  movement  can  be  condemned  as  unprac- 
tical only  by  those  who  have  no  vision,  and  leave 
no  room  in  their  world  for  the  working  of  human 
faith  and  hope.  The  strongest  leaders  of  the 
world's  life  to-day  are  leading  In  the  cause  of  in- 
ternationalism. If  a  firm  and  just  International 
order  is  not  set  up,  our  victory  will  be  barren,  and 
our  professions  stultified.  There  is  scarcely  a  re- 
sponsible leader  of  political  life  In  America  and 
Great  Britain  who  Is  not  heartily  committed  to  the 
cause  of  a  League  of  Nations.  To  call  the  roll 
of  its  supporters  is  to  call  wellnigh  every  name  of 
the  men  who  count.  And  the  few  strong  men  who 
do  not  espouse  the  cause  are  careful  to  say  that  It 
is  a  desirable  scheme,  and  that  their  objection  Is 
simply  to  Its  practicability. 

There  was  a  time,  not  very  long  ago,  when  the 
cause  of  international  peace  and  justice  and  good- 


1 86     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

will  seemed  to  enlist  only  the  halrbrained  and  quix- 
otic, the  ''  long-haired  men  and  short-haired 
women."  The  word  "pacifist"  has  fallen  into 
disrepute  largely  because  it  was  used  so  much  by 
fanatics  and  fools.  But  a  new  note  was  sounded, 
and  a  new  set  of  men  came  into  the  movement  In 
America  for  international  peace  and  justice,  when 
the  League  to  Enforce  Peace  was  organized. 
The  cause  of  internationalism  has  become  serious, 
sane,  and  splendid,  under  the  guidance  and  care  of 
cool,  hardheaded,  farseeing  men.  The  church  is 
taking  a  growing  Interest  In  It.  The  very  Inter- 
esting and  successful  work  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee on  the  Churches  and  the  Moral  Aims  of  the 
War  during  the  present  year  is  a  strong  proof 
that  the  best  and  most  thoughtful  and  most  pa- 
triotic sections  of  our  population  respond  Instantly 
and  heartily  to  the  presentation  of  a  sane  and 
Christian  Ideal  of  Internationalism.  The  move- 
ment has  been  conclusively  shown  to  have  not  only 
high  ideals,  but  practical  good  sense  in  it. 

These  five  big  convictions  stand  out  from  our 
discussion.  They  make  this  cause  of  Christian 
Internationalism  an  adventure,  exciting,  uncertain, 
tremendous,  hard,  but  hopeful.  It  is  just  the  sort 
of  enterprise  to  win  and  hold  the  allegiance  of  all 
true  liberals  or  progressives,  all  "  forward-looking 
folk,"  all  real  Christians. 


CONCLUSIONS  187 

When  we  remind  ourselves  of  what  the  tiny 
handful  of  early  Christians  dared  dream  and  pre- 
dict for  their  movement,  as  they  set  It  forth  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  how  that  little,  weak, 
despised  set  of  Idealists  looked  forward  confi- 
dently to  the  victory  of  their  cause  over  the  empire 
and  the  religion  of  their  day,  when  we  remember 
how  much  of  that  dream  has  come  true,  we  are 
ashamed  to  doubt  that  the  Christianity  of  to-day 
is  able  to  dominate  and  transform  international 
relations,  to  bring  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  author- 
ity in  the  affairs  of  nations  and  governments. 

II.  There  are  certain  powerful  reactions  which 
we  cannot  escape,  If  we  face  these  facts  and  con- 
clusions, reflexes  on  our  normal  life  In  other 
realms  than  the  political. 

I.  The  Ideals  and  policies  of  Christian  Interna- 
tionalism react  powerfully  on  the  church  and  Its 
life.  For  the  moment  the  church  takes  up  the 
cause  of  uniting  the  nations,  it  Is  faced  with  the 
duty  and  necessity  of  bringing  unity  and  order  Into 
its  own  life,  of  uniting  the  denominations. 

If  the  church  attempts  to  teach  or  preach  the 
need  of  international  order,  of  the  subordinating 
of  Irresponsible  nationalism  to  the  general  wel- 
fare of  humanity,  the  nations  can  retort  In  the 
words  of  Paul,  "  Thou  therefore  that  teachest  an- 
other, teachest  thou  not  thyself?  "     If  we  cannot 


i88     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

get  Presbyterians,  and  Methodists,  and  Baptists, 
and  Episcopalians,  together,  how  can  we  expect 
great  states  to  form  federative  unions,  or  correlate 
their  political  functions?  The  church  must  either 
be  silent  on  this  great  matter,  the  greatest  moral 
question  of  the  age,  or  must  set  her  own  house  In 
order,  so  that  she  can  speak  peace  to  the  nations 
in  the  name  of  God  with  a  united  voice. 

Moreover  the  church  must  see  that  the  Chris- 
tian religion  has  to  do  with  far  more  than  the  con- 
duct and  faith  of  the  individual;  that  it  is  pro- 
foundly concerned  with  group  morality,  with  social 
relationships  and  duties,  that  religion  is  not  syn- 
onymous with  piety,  but  is  a  blend  of  piety  and 
social  service. 

2.  The  cause  of  internationalism  reacts  power- 
fully also  upon  social  and  political  conditions  here 
in  America.  We  cannot  speak  great  words  about 
international  justice,  and  stand  for  international 
fair  dealing,  and  then  deal  unfairly  with  the  for- 
eigner within  our  own  bounds.  It  will  be  a  dis- 
grace if  we  send  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
negroes  to  help  "  make  the  world  safe  for  democ- 
racy," and  then  let  them  come  home  to  find  them- 
selves the  victims  of  the  same  sort  of  race  discrim- 
ination that  has  been  practiced  toward  them  in  the 
past  in  this  country.  We  cannot  talk  largely  of 
"  brotherhood,"  and  not  desire  to  play  the  square 


CONCLUSIONS  189 

and  brotherly  part  toward  China  and  Japan  and 
all  the  nations  with  which  our  relations  are  deli- 
cate and  have  been  questionable.  We  cannot 
avoid  an  uneasy  conscience  as  we  reflect  that  the 
men  who  have  misled  and  are  misleading  Russia 
got  their  notions  of  democracy  from  their  life  here 
in  America.  There  must  be  changes  here,  or  we 
cannot  without  shame  stand  positively  for  a  world- 
organization  that  shall  be  fair  and  just. 

3.  Internationalism  has  its  reflex  influence  also, 
and  a  powerful  one,  upon  industrial  and  commer- 
cial affairs  here  in  our  country.  It  is  not  enough 
to  fight  Germany;  we  must  fight  that  for  which 
Germany  stands.  Our  casualty  lists,  long  as  they 
are  growing,  are  not  yet  comparable  with  those 
resulting  from  the  processes  of  industry,  in  which 
some  500,000  persons  a  year  are  killed  or 
maimed.  Why  should  not  the  one  horror  move  us 
as  profoundly  as  the  other?  Can  we  fight  against 
autocracy  in  Prussia,  and  leave  it  dominant  and 
protected  in  American  business  and  industry? 
Can  we  fight  to  extend  democracy,  and  not  see  that 
it  is  extended  to  the  processes  of  industrial  life? 
Can  we  outlaw  selfish  aggression  as  practiced  by 
Germany,  and  leave  it  unmolested  when  it  controls 
corporations,  or  unions,  or  other  social  groups? 
Can  we  abhor  "  ruthlessness  "  in  warfare,  and 
leave  it  to  work  its  will  in  the  competitive  strug- 


I90     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

gles  of  our  commercial  life?  We  shall  learn  that 
it  costs  a  great  deal  to  adopt  a  high  and  Christian 
ideal  for  the  world.  We  must  be  prepared  to 
bring  all  our  processes  of  national  life  under  the 
power  of  that  ideal,  or  be  condemned  as  hypo- 
crites. 

4.  The  most  powerful  and  cutting  reaction  Is 
that  upon  our  personal  life.  For  no  one  can  be- 
come a  Christian  Internationalist,  and  not  be  in- 
stantly and  forcefully  challenged  to  say  whether 
he  will  be  a  Christian  In  reality  throughout  the 
range  of  his  personal  conduct. 

In  a  sense  Germany  has  done  us  a  service, 
though  a  terrible  and  shameful  one.  Germany 
has  shown  us,  by  an  extreme  and  naked  forthset- 
tlng,  the  repulslveness  and  heathenlshness  of  a 
way  of  life  which  we  had  never  quite  let  go,  a  way 
of  life  with  which  we  Christians  made  all  sorts  of 
compromises.  It  Is  time  Christians  were  seeing 
that  they  must  be  whole  Christians  or  none.  We 
cannot  serve  God  and  mammon.  We  cannot  go 
on  ''  limping  between  two  sides."  If  Christ  be 
the  Master,  we  must  follow  Him,  clear  through, 
from  end  to  end,  from  side  to  side,  from  top  to 
bottom,  of  life.  Too  long  we  have  been  content 
to  define  Christian  faith  In  terms  of  profession, 
creed,  opinion.  Faith,  In  the  Bible,  and  in  real 
Christian  experience,  always  means  commitment, 


CONCLUSIONS  191 

loyalty.  No  amount  of  theological  soundness,  or 
mystic  saintliness,  can  ever  make  up  for  a  lack  of 
plain,  downright  loyalty  to  the  ideals  and  words 
and  things  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  a  sharp 
sting  in  the  quiet  saying  of  Tolstoi:  "  Christians 
do  not  think  Jesus  meant  what  He  said !  "  We 
must  crown  Him  Lord  of  all,  or  send  Him  away. 
IIL  What  duties  face  us  therefore,  in  our  rela- 
tion, as  Christians,  to  the  cause  of  a  true  Chris- 
tian Internationalism? 

The  first  duty  is  to  think  about  that  cause,  to 
think  straight  and  hard,  and  always  in  the  light  of 
Christ's  Spirit  and  ideals;  to  study  the  matter,  to 
become  increasingly  intelligent  about  it,  realizing 
its  necessity,  understanding  its  program,  facing  its 
problems,  sharing  its  hopes. 

The  soldiers  have  been  doing  their  part,  the 
greatest,  the  most  indispensable  part.  You  must 
help  think  out  that  future  for  which  they  have  been 
fighting  in  order  to  give  it  a  chance  to  live  and 
grow  fair. 

The  crisis  in  the  campaign  for  internationalism 
will  come  when  the  proposal  for  the  establishment 
of  an  international  order  comes  before  the  Amer- 
ican Senate  in  the  form  of  some  concrete  treaty 
or  peace  settlement.  We  shall  fail  at  that  critical 
point,  unless  there  is  at  that  time  in  this  country 
a  large  body  of  intelligent,  convinced,  popular  sen- 


192     CHRISTIAN  INTERNATIONALISM 

timent,  able  to  demand  that  America  shall  play 
her  full  and  leadmg  and  dismterested  part  in  the 
proposed  League  of  Nations  for  justice  and  peace. 

A  second  duty,  closely  akin  to  the  first,  is  the 
duty  of  getting  into  intimate  relation  with  those 
societies  and  organizations  which  are  working  for 
a  sound  Christian  Internationalism;  such  as  the 
League  to  Enforce  Peace,  the  World  Alliance  for 
International  Friendship  through  the  Churches, 
and  the  National  Committee  on  the  Churches  and 
the  Moral  Aims  of  the  War.  Help  to  set  clearly 
before  all  our  people  what  it  is  for  which  America 
is  really  fighting,  how  intimately  the  organization 
of  a  League  of  Nations  is  bound  in  with  the  mean- 
ing of  the  war  itself.  Do  all  in  your  power  to 
open  churches  and  clubs  and  all  sorts  of  social 
groups  to  discussions  and  presentations  of  this 
cause  of  Christian  Internationalism. 

But  the  chief  duty,  the  first,  the  last,  the  basic 
one,  is  that  each  of  us  make  his  own  solemn  and 
determined  choice,  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  in  the 
strength  of  Christ,  to  be  loyal  through  and 
through;  loyal  to  our  nation,  and  to  our  govern- 
ment, and  to  our  cause;  and  loyal  to  this  great  end 
of  Christian  Internationalism  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  all  the  faiths  that  come  to  us  from  the 
past,  and  with  all  the  hopes  that  lie  before  human- 
ity.    It  is  the  supreme  epoch  in  human  history  for 


CONCLUSIONS  193 

Christians  to  be  Christian,  and  to  determine  that 
the  world's  life  shall  be  brought  into  obedience  to 
the  will  of  God  in  Christ. 

No  words  can  better  set  forth  the  spirit  In  which 
we  should  face  the  world  of  our  day,  its  immense 
demands,  its  sore  needs,  its  vast  responsibilities 
and  opportunities,  than  words  such  as  those  with 
which  Lincoln  closed  his  second  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress : 

**  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all, 
with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see 
the  right,  let  us  strive  onward  to  finish  the  work 
in  which  we  are  engaged,  to  do  all  that  may 
achieve  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  all  na- 
tions." 


THE   END 


FEINTED   IN   THB   UNITED   STATES   OV   AMEBIOA 


T^HE  following  pages  contain  advertisements  of  a  few  of  the 
Macmillan  books  on  kindred  subjects. 


RECENT  B^LIGIOUS  HAND  BOOKS 

Each  Sixty  Cents 

THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  CRUSADE 

liY    LYMAN   ABBOTT 
Written  by  one  who  has  an  exultant  faith  that  never  in  the  history  of  the 
past  has  there  been  so  splendid  a  demonstration  of  the  extent  and  power  of 
the  Christ  spirit   as   today. 

THE  WAY  TO  LIFE  By  henry  Churchill  king 

A  discussion  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  similar  to  that  in  Dr.  King's 
former  book  The  llthus  of  Jesus.  Besides  rewriting  them,  he  has  added 
material  on  the  war  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

IT'S  ALL  IN  THE  DAY'S  WORK 

By    henry    CHURCHILL    KING 
"  Good  bracing  council  ...  a  book  for  all  who  wish  to  acquit  themselves 
well  in  the  battle  of  life." —  The  Dial. 

THE  WAR  AND  THE  BIBLE  By  h.  d.  enelow 

Contents: — The  Spiritual  Problems  of  the  War;  The  Attitude  of  the 
Bible  Toward  War;  The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible;  Some  Great  Wars  of 
the  Bible;  Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible;  The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible;  War 
Prayers  in  the  Bible;  Parallels  to  the  Present  War  in  the  Bible;  The  Ideal 
of   Peace  in  the   Bible. 

ARE  YOU  HUMAN?  By  william  DeWITT  hyde 

"  Like  a  stinging  fresh  breeze  with  the  very  salt  of  life  and  vigor.  .  ,  . 
Every  man  ought  to  get  and  digest  this  book." — Pacific  Churchman. 

THE  BEST  MAN  I  KNOW        By  William  deWitt  hyde 

"  .All  the  virtues  and  the  graces  that  make  for  fine  quality  of  life  are 
included.  They  are  presented  with  a  vigor  that  is  like  tiie  sting  of  salt 
winds,    bracing    and    wholesome," —  Christian   Register. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  MAN  By  DONALD  hankey 

"  lilk'd  with  the  wise  .sincerity  ot  a  religious  conviction  that  cares  little 
for  creed  and  miracle,  that  finds  the  whole  7-a(ie  mecum  of  life  in  the  simple 
facts  of   Christ's  active   work  among  men/' —  Boston   Transcript. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  MAN,  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE 

WAR  By  ROBERT  E.   SPEER 

Dr.  Speer  here  discusses  the  essentials  of  a  problem  which  has  exercised 
Christian  men  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  deals  with  it  sanely  and 
in  a  manner  that  will  be  considered  distinctly  helpful. 

NEW  HORIZON  OF  STATE  AND  CHURCH 

By    W.   H.   p.   FAUNCE 
"  Broad,    profound    scholarship,    close    relationship    with    progressive    senti- 
ment  all   over   the   land,   and    unusual    [)owers   of   keen   analysis   and   graphic 
statement  are  forceful  elements  in  The  New  Horizon  of  State  and  Church." 
—  Philadelphia  North  American. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publishers     64-66  Fifth  Avenue     New  York 


WORKS  OF  THE  LATE 
DR.  WALTER  RAUSCHENBUSCH 

A  Theology  of  the  Social  Gospel 

Clcth,  12*,  $1.^0 

"  It  is  a  book  which  cannot  be  dismissed  either  by  the  ortho- 
dox preacher  or  the  sociaHst  leader.  Its  pages  reflect  the 
candid  thinker  and  a  free  mind,  and  must  be  reckoned  with 
by  the  believers  in  the  church  and  the  ones  who  still  believe 
that  the  pulpit  can  be  made  a  freer  platform  than  any  other 
instituted  rostrum  from  which  the  public  is  to  be  instructed. 
The  press  is  far  more  muzzled  than  the  pulpit  that  is  occupied 
by  a  growing  number  of  the  pupils  of  Professor  Rauschen- 
busch." —  Unity. 

Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis 

By  WALTER  RAUSCHENBUSCH 

Cloth,  12°,  $1.50 
"  It  is  enough  to  feel  that  the  book  was  bravely  written  to 
free  an  honest  man's  heart;  that  conscientious  scholarship, 
hard  thinking,  and  the  determination  to  tell  the  truth  as  he 
sees  it,  have  Avrought  it  out  and  enriched  it;  that  it  is  written 
in  a  clear,  incisive  style,  and  that  there  is  a  noble  end  in  view. 
...  It  is  a  book  to  like,  to  learn  from,  and  though  the  theme 
be  sad  and  serious,  to  be  charmed  with."— Joseph  O'Connor  in 
The  New  York  Times  Review. 

Christianizing  the  Social  Order 

By  WALTER  RAUSCHENBUSCH 

$1.50 
"  Prof.  Walter  Rauschenbusch's  new  book,  '  Christianizing 
the  Social  Order,'  is  an  impressive  sequel  to  his  suggestive  and 
stimulating  volume,  '  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,'  which 
marked  him  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  comparatively  new 
movement  in  behalf  of  a  bold  stand  by  the  churches  for  radical 
social  reform.  His  volume  is  one  of  the  important  sociolog- 
ical books  of  the  year. "—Springfield  Republiccn. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

PubUshers     64-66  Fifth  Avenue     New  York 


The  Course  of  Christian  History 

By  W.  J.  McGLOTHLIN,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  Southern  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary. 

Cloth,  $2.00 

This  volume  has  been  written  with  a  full  and  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject  gained  from  study  in  European  Universities 
and  teaching  in  one  of  the  leading  theological  institutions  of  this 
country. 

While  it  is  thoroughly  scientific  in  spirit  and  is  abreast  of  the 
latest  developments,  the  author  has  at  the  same  time  preserved 
that  lucidity  and  simplicity  of  statement  and  style  which  make 
the  book  interesting  and  readable  for  the  general  student. 

"  The  study  of  the  course  that  has  been  taken  by  the  Church 
in  its  extended  life  is  most  interesting  and  fascinating,  when 
guided  by  one  who  is  able  to  speak  as  a  real  master.  .  .  .  The 
growth  and  development  of  the  church  from  its  early  days,  on 
through  the  middle  centuries  and  into  modern  times,  is  por- 
trayed in  a  skillful  and  authoritative  way,  and  much  light  is 
shed  on  the  great  controversies  and  councils,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  doctrines,  the  spread  of  heresies  and  the  expansion  of 
the  life  and  work  of  the  church." — Herald  and  Presbyter. 

*'  The  volume  is  different  from  the  general  run  of  church  his- 
tories. ...  It  is  readable,  interesting  and  informing.  The  book 
is  intended  primarily  for  college  students  and  is  well  adapted 
to  this  use.  .  .  .  The  book  is  also  well  adapted  to  the  use  of 
Bible  classes,  mission  study  classes,  etc.,  and  could  be  used  by 
them  to  great  profit.  ...  Dr.  McGlothlin  has  done  a  splendid 
piece  of  work  in  this  volume  and  made  a  real  contribution  to 
the  literature  on  the  history  of  Christianity.  We  wish  for  this 
book  a  wide  reading." — Review  and  Expositor. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publishers     64-66  Fifth  Avenue     New  York 


Patriotism  and  Religion 


By  dr.  SHAILER  MATHEWS 

Author  of  "  The  Social  Teachings  of  Jesus,"  "  The  Church 

and  the  Changing  Order,"  etc. 

Cloth,  12°,  $I.2S 

The  close  relationship  between  religion  and  patriotism  is 
Dr.  Mathews'  theme  in  this  volume.  The  treatment,  while 
in  a  broad  sense  historical,  centers  about  the  two  types  of  patri- 
otism as  illustrated  in  Germany  and  in  democratic  countries. 
The  religious  significance  of  each  patriotism  is  shown  to  be 
something  more  than  a  mere  accident.  The  volume  is  of  in- 
terest as  a  study  of  a  phase  of  social  Christianity  as  well  as 
a  frank  discussion  of  the  failure  of  the  Christianity  of  the 
past  to  apply  the  teaching  of  Jesus  to  social  affairs. 

"This  distinguished  theologian  and  Christian  apostle  has 
performed  a  noble  service  in  setting  forth  clearly  and  convinc- 
ingly the  relationship  between  patriotism  and  religion  and  the 
duty  of  the  Christian  believer  in  the  present  world  crisis. 
No  namby-pamby  sacerdotal  pussyfooting  is  there  in  his  ring- 
ing words : 

"'Can  we  then  love  our  enemies?  Yes,  we  can  love  them, 
but  we  cannot  like  them.  .  .  .  Love  for  enemies  does  not  mean 
that  we  should  suffer  them  to  do  others  harm ;  that  we  should 
approve  their  brutality,  condone  their  atrocities,  or  submit  to 
their  oppression.  ...  If  they  threaten  the  world  with  the 
sword,  we  shall  protect  the  world  with  the  sword.  Love  for 
our  enemies  is  not  moral  if  it  deadens  our  indignation  against 
the  crimes  they  perpetrate.  .  .  .  Indignation  and  loathing  are 
not  hatred.  Self-protection  is  not  vindictiveness.  .  .  .  We 
shall  love  our  enemies,  but  we  shall  not  disarm  until  they  are 
harmless.' 

"  That  we  conceive  to  be  a  reverent  and  accurate  reflection 
of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth."—  New  York  Tribune. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publishers     64-66  Fifth  Avenue     New  York 


I 

1  1012  01236  5666 


Date  Due 

i 

KmdkLl^^ 

Ml 

i 

f) 

PRINTED 

IN  U.  S.  A. 

